Process and characterization of dual phase steel foam

Abstract

Porous materials featuring cellular structures are known to have many interesting combinations of physical and mechanical properties. Some of them have been extensively used in the transportation field (i.e. balsa wood). Steel foams presented promising theoretical properties for both functional and structural applications in transportation, but processing of such a kind of foams is complex due to their high melting point. Recently a technique for processing Cu-based alloys open-cell foams through the molten metal infiltration of a leachable bed of amorphous SiO2 particles was proposed. A variation of the proposed technique that uses SiC particles as space holder is now presented and was recently successfully applied for dual phase steel foam processing. Results from a processing of dual phase DP500 steel foams, including some morphological, micro-structural and mechanical characterization, are here presented.