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What are metal foams?
Metal foams are porous materials (also called cellular materials) made of metal (copper, nickel, alloys, etc.) which contain a large proportion of air (generally from 70% and 95%).
The most highly cited metal foam advantages in scientific literature are their high specific surface area, light weight (they are composed essentially of air), high strength to weight ratio, good sound absorption, good energy/impact absorption and recyclable. And that is without mentioning their innovative look!
What differentiate open-cell and closed-cell metal foams?
There are two types of metal foams: closed-cell foams and open-cell foams.
On the one hand, closed-cell metal foams, generally made of aluminum, are composed of bubbles trapped in metal (like bread). Closed-cell metal foams are mainly used to strengthen lightweight structures.
On the other hand, open-cell metal foams are composed of interconnected pores (like a sponge). Since the principal advantage of open-cell metallic foams is that a fluid can circulate through the material, they can be used for heat transfer between the foam and air to create electrochemical reactions between the metal and a liquid, for example. Thanks to Metafoam's material large contact area between the metal and the fluid, such reactions are greatly more efficient. Last advantage but not least is their large specific surface area, which increases performance in most of the applications.
What is specific surface area?
Specific surface area represents how much exposed area a three-dimensional object has. It is most of the time expressed in square meter per cubic meter (m²/m³) and is calculated by adding together the areas of all the faces of the object.
For example, a cube of 1 meter x 1 meter x 1 meter has a specific surface area of 6 m²/m³ since it has 6 sides. In comparison, Metafoam's material has an average specific surface area of 20,000 m²/m³.
Some would best like to talk about surface density (m²/kg) which is related to specific surface area.
What is the difference between Metafoam's material and metal foam from other manufacturers?
Thanks to its unique production process based on powder metallurgy, Metafoam has undeniable advantages regarding:
its specific surface area (at least 6 times more than competition), which largely influence efficiency in most of the applications. Such a high specific surface area is reached because the unique microstructure of Metafoam's material is composed of pores interconnected by "micro-pores" called windows;
its strong wicking structure;
quality, thanks to a great control of material's key parameters;
its very competitive pricing.
Which materials Metafoam does manufacture?
Even if many metal and ceramic foams could be manufactured with Metafoam's production process, the Company is mainly focusing on copper foams, copper-silver foams, nickel foams and iron foams. Metafoam does not produce aluminum foams.
Click here to know standard foams.
Which metal should I choose?
Keep in mind that a metal, in the shape of foam or not, has generally the same properties. For example, copper-silver foams have a higher thermal conductivity than iron foams. Similar analogies can be made for oxidation phenomena, electrical conductivity, resistance to high temperature, etc. As experts in the application in which they use metal foam, our partners and customers are often the best persons to indicate the optimal metal.
What are the feasible geometries?
Since Metafoam's material can be easily machined, it is possible to get a large variety of shapes. In fact, depending on the complexity of the shape wanted and the thickness of the foam machined, it is possible to use a simple saw or a retractable utility knife. Milling machines and other specialized techniques could also be used.
Metafoam has also developed a know-how in bonding metal foam to bulk metal (plates, sheets, tubes, etc.). Such metallic bonds often allow to increase thermal, electrical and mechanical properties of the component.
How much do metal foams cost?
Metafoam offers many services and metal foam solutions to its customers and partners in function of their needs and the commercial status of their metal foam-based products:
The Service Business Unit offers its expertise for the development of customized metal foams to allow you to make your proofs of concept. Packages include technical counseling and metal foam samples. Minimum orders are $500 CAD.
For prototyping and advanced tests, the Product Development Business Unit provides a larger number of samples at a lower cost per unit.
For commercialization purpose, the Manufacturing Business Unit allows to order metal foam components in quantities and thus benefit of additional economies of scale.
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