ALUMINUM FOAM, "ALPORAS": THE PRODUCTION PROCESS,

PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

T. MIYOSHI*, M. ITOH*, S. AKIYAMA**, A. KITAHARA**

*:Shinko Wire Company Ltd., New Tech. Prod. Div., Amagasaki, Japan
** :Kyushu National Industrial Research Inst., Material Engineering Dept., Tosu, Japan

ABSTRAQI
The production of foamed aluminum has long been considered difficult to realize because of
such problems as the low foamability of molten metal, the varying size of cellular structures,
solidification shrinkage and so on. Recently these problems have been solved by a number of
researches and some manufacturers produce foamed aluminum by their own methods. We have
been employing a batch casting process and manufacturing foamed aluminum under the
tradename ALPORAS® since 1986. This paper presents the manufacturing process, physical
properties and some typical applications of ALPORAS.

1. INTRODUCTION
ALPORAS is an ultra-light weight material with a closed cell structure. We have been
working on such a material for many years and have succeeded in its practical development. In
particular, we have improved sound absorption and expanded the market of ALPORAS
remarkably. Recently we have gotten better quality and larger sized blocks of aluminum foam by
introducing a new manufacturing plant. These plants employ a batch casting process. We can
control cell size and density according to the purpose with these new plants.

2. MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF ALUMINUM FOAM

The manufacturing process of the ALPORAS is a batch casting process (Fig.1). To make
aluminum foam, it is necessary to stabilize bubbles in molten aluminum. The most important
factor for stabilizing the bubbles in the molten aluminum is to increase its viscosity as shearing
resistance acting on a fluid, and prevent the occurrence of bubble floatation. We use 1.5%Ca as
thickening agent. Ca is added to molten aluminum at 680'C and stirred for 6 minutes in an
ambient atmosphere. The thickened aluminum alloy is poured into a casting mold and stirred
with an admixture of 1.6%TiH 2 as a blowing agent at 680°C. After stirring, the molten material
is cured to expand and fill up the mold for about 15 minutes. Then, the foamed molten material
is cooled to harden in the casting mold by fans. A cast ALPORAS block is 450mm wide,
2050mm long, 650mm high and weighs 160kg. After the aluminum foam block is removed from
the casting mold, it is sliced into the plates with various kinds of thickness according to the
purpose.
1.5%Ca, Pure Al 1.6%TiH 2

Thickening Foaming Cooling Foamed block Slicing

Fig.1 Manufacturing process of ALPORAS

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Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 521 © 1998 Materials Research Society
2. 1 THICKENING METHOD
For adjusting the viscosity of molten metal, there is a method to increase apparent viscosity by
suspending and dispersing fine solid-phase particles. It can vary a thickening ratio over a wide
range through the application of different solid-phase ratios. For fine solid-phase particles,
ceramic particulate such as SiC, Si 3N4 and A120 3, and the solid-phase of an alloy system in the
solid-liquid zone are used for aluminum. 0. 7
In these cases, however, it is difficult to
control the temperature for keeping the solid- 0.
5 ... ' 0.40/Ca
phase ratio at a constant value. Furthermore, it 0.
is reportedly known that several hours of 0.
agitation process is required for evenly wetting 00
0.324- A( l"D
A(-
and suspending fine powder having a grain _

size less than 0.02 mm as in the case of SiC. 0. 2 ,_.l"I" . . • .. ,--* ":Pure
In contrast, the solid phase of an oxide can be 0.1
evenly dispersed by using an internal 0n 5 10 15 92D
oxidation method such as agitation in an v

ambient atmosphere, blowing air and so on. Stirring time / min

Also, the addition and subsequent agitation of Fig.2 A change in stirring resistance due to
an element of high oxygen compatibility such the addition of Ca to molten A1P)
as Ca and Mg, facilitate the progress of an
oxidation process on and within the surface of 90
molten metal, and can generate an oxide (i.e.
CaO, MgO, A120 3, CaAl 20 4 and so on) in the 80
volume required for thickening the molten
aluminum in a short time. This method utilizes .270
chemical reaction within a solution and is
60
capable of evenly wetting and dispersing fine 560
solid-phase particles in a liquid."2 ) Fig.2 shows
the change in stirring resistance due to the
addition of Ca to molten aluminum. 1 ) The 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
thickening rate of pure molten aluminum does Torque / kg cm
not increase so much. However, the addition
of Ca increases the viscosity remarkably. Fig.3 Effect of stirring resistance on porosity
Fig.3 shows the effect of stirring resistance
on porosity. When a stirring resistance is 0.25
kg-cm, bubbles easily float through the molten
material and gas is dissipated from the surface
of the molten material. So, the volume of each
cell is small (Fig.4). At 0.45kg-cm, bubbles
hardly float in the foaming molten material
and gas pressure rises so high in the center of
the molten material that the cell membranes
collapse. Therefore, there is an appropriate
stirring resistance for maximizing the foaming
A 0B ' © 0-.4k4-c C 0. 4-kc m
ratio. ')
Fig.4 Effect of stirring resistance on foaming
condition

134
2. 2 FOAMING
Fig.5 shows hydrogen gas produced by the 400 0
_7-- 690 C
thermal decomposition reaction of the blowing 0
0 "680 C
agent, TiH2, in molten aluminum. TiH 2 is 1g 10300
and measured in atmospheric pressure. The 670*C
volumetric yield of gaseous hydrogen from the w200
0
.4 , 6600C
decomposing TiH 2 depends on the -_. 630oC
temperature: The higher the temperature, the tolOO
more gaseous hydrogen is released from TiH2. "0
W

However, the higher the temperature, the faster >- 010-- 100 1000 10000
the rate of releasing gaseous hydrogen. Most Time / sec.
of the gaseous hydrogen bubbles that are Fig.5 Hydrogen gas produced by the thermal
released early float through the molten decomposition of TiH 2 in Al
material and catch fire. Therefore, the useful
blowing gas is that which is generated after
admixing TiH 2 and stirring.

3. CHARACTERISTICS
3. 1 STRUCTURE
An internal structure of the aluminum foam
is shown in Fig.6. The bubbles are no longer
spherical and have polyhedron structure due to Fig.6 Internal structure of ALPORAS
a high foaming ratio. Fig.7 shows the
distribution of cell sizes for general type of 25 10 4.8mm
ALPORAS. The cell sizes are distributed over
a range of 1 mm to 13 mm and the mean cell a 20
size is 4.8 mm. We can control the cell size to . 15
some degree to meet the purpose of the
S10
material produced. LL

3.2 APPARENT DENSITY

Fig.8 shows examples of the distribution of
the apparent density along the width direction Cell size 6o/ mm
of ALPORAS foamed block. The apparent
density is high at the side of the block but Fig.7 The cell size distribution of ALPORAS
gradually decrease towards the center. The 0.34
apparent density of the product is between 0.32
0.18-0.24g/cc, which is approximately 13 0.30
times the volume of solid aluminum and is 0.28
Block weight:
U-
.U 0.26
regarded as ultra-light. Also we can control the
0.24
size to some degree to meet the intended 0.22
purpose. 0.20
S 150kg
0.18
0.16
4. PROPERTIES
400mm Width
Fig.9 shows a compressive stress-strain
curves of aluminum foam. The curve is Fig.8 The distribution of the apparent density
reproducible as in the tension test. In this case, Along the width direction of blocks

135
however, the stress peak is followed by a plateau region, in which the flow stress is maintained at
a nearly constant level. In the later stage of the plateau, the opposing cell walls begin to touch
and the foams gradually collapse, resulting in the rapid increase in flow stress. )
In Fig.10 of the tensile stress-strain curves, the stress sharply decreases after the yielding and
the breaking force becomes very low. After the peak, cracks start to propagate perhaps from the
corners of relatively large cells, leading to an unstable fracture. 3)
Fig.11 shows the relationship between 10
compressive strength and the porosity of the
aluminum foam. With an increase in the CO 8 Compressive s-s curve /
porosity, the strength drops exponentially. The
ratio of the drop further increases as the U) 6

porosity exceeds 70%. This is because the 7Closed Cell

Al Foam
4 DENSIFICATION
spherical cells become polyhedron cells when _J
the porosity exceeds 70% (Fig.12). This is one 2
PLATEAU
I E
of the causes of stress concentration that z LINEAR ELASTICITY
occurs at the defects in the cell walls resulting 0
0 20 40 60 80
from the growth and coalescence of bubbles.
NOMINAL STRAIN, E1/
The tensile stress (Fig.13) and electrical
resistance (Fig.14) also have a tendency Fig.9 Compressive stress-strain curve
similar to the compressive strength.

2
Si 100
iO
0a

U) W 10
Ul)
Wi
I-
U1)

z
0
z
0 0 20 40 60 80 100
5 10 15 20
NOMINAL STRAIN, e/% Porosity / %

Fig.10 Tensile stress-strain curves Fig.11 Compressive strength to the porosity

100
Si
0
*1

.0

C
0.) 10
U

C
U
F-
I
Porosity 60% Porosity 93% 0 20 40 60 80 100
Spheroid Polyhedron
Porosity / %
Fig.12 Structure of foamed aluminum Fig.13 Tensile strength to the porosity

136
 Fig.15 shows the sound absorbing coefficient S1000
of rolled ALPORAS measured by the
reverberation chamber method in comparison
with unrolled ALPORAS and a glass wool of
3
40 mm in thickness and 25 kg/m in density. 4) - 100 !Li
T
The rolled ALPORAS has such a large sound
absorbing coefficient equivalent to the glass 10

wool.
W 00 10
5. APPLICATIONS
Fig.16 shows an example of applications for 0 20
40 60 80 100
sound absorbent. ALPORAS laid on the Porosity / %
under-side of an elevated expressway for noise Fig.14 Effect of porosity of the foamed
absorption. A cylindrically bent sound aluminum on electric conductivity
absorbing structure is laid on a noise reflecting
surface of an elevated viaduct to absorb the 1.0
vehicle noise, thus relieving the noise nuisance 77~In's
0.8
to the neighborhood residents. ALPORAS has
a high impact absorbing function thanks to its Li 0.6.
Rolled ALPORA S
substantial deformation capability under a low 0.4-
stress (Fig.9). It is used as an impact cushion 0.2,
for express rolling stocks and vehicles for
01!
UIenrollid iALPO
saving drivers' life from collisions. 00 500 1000 5000 10000
The aluminum foam has many other Frequency / Hz
applications, including the double layer floor
of a room where electronic equipment is Fig.13 the sound absorbing coefficient of
arranged for office automation, filter material rolled ALPORAS
and microbiological incubation carriers.

6. CONCLUSIONS
ALPORAS is a closed cell type aluminum
foam which is manufactured by a batch cast
and thickened by Ca and blown by TiH 2 . The
density of the general type is about 0.21 g/cc
and its mean cell size is 4.8 mm in diameter. It
has excellent sound absorption and shock
absorption capabilities and its main application
is sound absorbent.
Fig.16 sound absorbing structure on the
under-side of an elevated viaduct
RREEERENCRS
1) K. Imagawa, H. Ueno, S. Akiyama, A. Kitahara and S. Nagata: Test Report of Agency of
Industrial Science and Technology
2) H. Ueno and S. Akiyama: Suspension Viscosity
3) M. Ohtsuka, A. Kojima, M. Itoh and E. Ishii: Proc. Recent Advances in Science and
Technologies of Light Metals (RASELM91), page 999
4) E. Ishii, M. Itoh and Y. Morisawa: Report in Kobe Steel Technical Bulletin 1991, Vol. 41, No.2

137