Fabrication of cylindrical uni-directional porous metal with explosive compaction

A new method to fabricate uni-directional porous (UniPore) metal employing the explosive compaction process of cylindrical pipe assembly is proposed. The proposed fabrication method enables production of long rods with uniform longitudinal pores along the whole rod length, exhibiting typical porous material behavior in the transverse direction while retaining solid material behavior in the longitudinal direction under compressive mechanical loading. Micro structural analysis of the fabricated samples demonstrates strong interface bonding between pipe walls. Many practical applications of UniPore porous metal are to be expected due to its unique properties and some preliminary investigations show very high efficiency of such structure for heat exchangers or heat sink applications.