Preparation of metal foam

Increasingly, light materials are being used in the automobile industry, ma chine construction and process technology, and metal foam is one of the mos t futuristic of these materials. In order to determine the behaviour and wo rking properties of metal foams, a series of investigations were carried ou t involving the loading of aluminium foam in tension, compression and bendi ng. The effect which these various different types of loading have on the p ore structure is revealed by metallographically preparing the aluminium foa m specimens. This article is intended to give an overview of the particular techniques i nvolved in the preparation of aluminium foam. The methods used and experien ce gained in the vacuum mounting, grinding and polishing of this material a re described. Examples of prepared samples of compression specimens serve t o illustrate the pore structure of this type of material and the degree of deformation which occurs.