Manufacturing of open-cell Mg foams by replication process and mechanical properties

• Open-cell Mg foams were successfully fabricated by the replication casting route.
• The proposed equipment can be escalated to produce foams of different sizes.
• The relative density and the percent porosity can be modified by the pore size.
• The mechanical properties of the Mg-foams were evaluated by compression test.
• The mechanical properties can be improved by modifying the relative density.

Open-cell pure Mg foams were produced by replication casting process. The preform used was manufactured with spherical particles of NaCl with sizes ranging from (A) 1 mm to (D) 2 mm. It was found that increasing the pore size, the relative density decreased, while the porosity increased, registering a minimum relative density of 0.22 and a maximum percentage porosity of 78% for sample (D) 2 mm. The mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics were investigated by means of compression test. Under the present experiment conditions, the sample (A) 1 mm with the smaller pore size and the lower percent porosity 67%, showed the highest mechanical properties; Young’s modulus, yield stress, and the high energy absorption capacity. The mechanical properties obtained and the large plateau region could be favorable for scaffold and energy absorbing applications.