Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser welded beads realized for joining CuZn open cellular foams

Porous materials as well as cellular metallic foams intrinsically combine thermo-physical, functional and structural characteristics. This mix of different properties makes these materials very attractive for the development of new applications in biomedical, electronic, chemical and structural engineering fields. A requirement for the diffusion of applications based on metal foams is the study of the joining processes, which could result a suitable route for processing metallic foams integrated devices. In this work, microstructure and mechanical properties of the laser welding beads were investigated. The melted zones and the heat affected zones of lap joints were characterized by optical microscopy and micro-hardness profiles. Shear strength of plate/foam and plate/bulk lap joints was compared.