한국주조공학회

The viscosity of foam metal is necessary to get the pores, but it is difficult to manufacture net-shape foam, because the fluidity decreases by increasing viscosity. In this study, the A356 alloy which has good fluidity and less defect was selected and fabricated to foam metal. To understand about effect of thickening agent on foaming and mechanical properties, quantity of thickening agent was changed. The pore size, porosity and distribution of foam metal were measured by i-solution program. And compression test were performed by UTM. In case of 3.0wt% Ca in thickening agent, it is found that most of foam consist of homogeneous shape, and the growth height had the highest value of 204 mm in the all fabricated foams. The porosity was 93% and compressive strength was 3.1 MPa. In the microstructure, the Al2Si2Ca intermetallic compound and Ti were observed. The vickers hardness value rose with increasing viscosity value.

A356 alloy foam, Thickening agent, Viscosity, Foaming properties, Compressive properties.