from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
The aim of the experiment was to study the technique of production of porous metal foams by reduction of metal oxides during sintering. The foams were produced by powder metallurgy. This technique allows us to combine irregular cellular structures with open or closed pores. The porosity range is largely dependent on the component materials, i.e., the type and size of particles. The porosity is also affected by the ratio of metal oxide to matrix metal. To obtain a porous structure, it is necessary to apply a metal oxide that is easy to reduce by the protective atmosphere during the sintering process. The porous metal foam technology is suitable to produce components similar to those obtained by powder metallurgy. The process was slightly modified to produce porous layers on elements used in heat transfer exchangers. The study concerned layers with the pre-determined porosity, layer thickness and open pores on heat exchangers made of electrolytic copper which operate at boiling heat transfer. The porous layers were produced by sintering and reduction of a mixture of copper and copper oxide powders varying in grain size.
Keywords: powder metallurgy, metallic foams, sintering© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.