Production and characterization of metallic foams

Metallic foams are a new class of materials with extremely lowdensities and unique combination of excellent mechanical, thermal, electricaland acoustic properties. Among metallic foams, titanium and titanium alloyfoams have many potential uses such as biomedical and load-bearingapplications where weight is of concern.In this study commercially pure titanium foams were produced byspace holder method through powder metallurgy route. The object of theinvestigation was controllability of density, microstructural properties andcompression behaviour of titanium foams by the use of various processingvariables such as starting powder size, sintering temperature, type andamount of space holder. Porosities and elastic moduli between 30 - 70 % and4-90 GPa, respectively, were achieved.Keywords: Titanium, metallic foams, space holder method, compressionbehaviour, sintering.ii