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Foaming of Aluminum Alloys Derived From Scrap
Author(s) -
Kumar G. S. Vinod,
Heim Korbinian,
GarciaMoreno Francisco,
Banhart John,
Kennedy Andrew R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201200122
Subject(s) - materials science , scrap , aluminium , metallurgy , wetting , oxide , machining , chemical engineering , composite material , engineering
Aluminum alloys made from machining chips that have been heat treated and re‐melted, have been successfully foamed (after the addition of TiH 2 ) using processes analogous to both the “Alporas” and “Formgrip” methods. The high oxygen contents associated with the swarf (0.11 wt% for the as‐received material, increasing to >0.5 wt% after conditioning) results in large fractions of both clustered and dispersed oxide films in the melt. It is these films that enhance the “foamability” of this material. Through additional alloying with Mg and holding in the liquid state to allow reaction to take place, fragmentation and wetting of the oxides occurs and foams with low densities (<0.3 g cm −3 ), good pore structures, and good stability were obtained. The use of scrap material, without costly or embrittling additives, offers a low cost route to the manufacture of high quality foams.