Two-Criteria Analysis of Casting Technologies of Metal and Composite Foams

Abstract

The determination of potential areas of application for metal foams allows to precisely define properties these materials are expected to have. The characteristics of metal foams are strictly related to their cellular structure, which in turn depends on the manufacturing method and materials used. Obviously, metal foam producers should strive to make these materials using inexpensive, or cost-effective technologies, yielding possibly good quality and being environment-friendly. This paper briefly characterizes the manufacturing of metal and composite foams by casting methods. We determine an optimal manufacturing method based on a matrix diagram for metal and composite foams satisfying the two - criteria: “manufacturing costs” (depending on the price of production equipment and labour, cost of materials for foam manufacturing, environmental impact) and “foam quality” (depending on the manufacturing precision, homogeneity of the structure, pore size, shape, and volumetric fraction).

Keywords

• metal and composite foams
• manufacturing methods
• matrix chart analysis