Experimental analysis of the effect of control factors on aluminium foam produced by powder metallurgy

Aluminium foams, produced by the powder metallurgy route, have a high potential for use in weight-sensitive construction parts. The stiffness to weight ratio is the main criterion for material selection in light-weight design. The aim of this study is to evaluate the properties and to optimize the control factors of a powder technique, developed at the Fraunhofer Institute, starting from aluminium powders with titanium hydride as the foaming agent. During the experimental work, many samples were made following the principles of the design of experiment. Then a study of the morphology and distribution of cells and of the walls of the cells was carried out and relative density was measured. Mechanical properties of foam samples were studied by quasi-static compression tests. The final evaluation of the most important features has been made using ANOVA statistical analysis.