A novel water leaching and sintering process for manufacturing highly porous stainless steel

Highly porous 316L stainless steel samples with 70 vol.% porosity were manufactured using water leaching and sintering methods. Irregular carbamide powders were used as a space holder material. Complete removal of carbamide from the green compact and the desired macro-pore framework were achieved by water leaching at room temperature. The macro-pore framework remained nearly unchanged after sintering. It was shown that the pore shape, size and distribution could be controlled with this water leaching and sintering process.