Alternative Carbonates to Produce Aluminium Foams via Melt Route

Aluminium foaming via melt route by using calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is far known since a few years ago. However, some other carbonates have not been explored, or results on them have not been reported in sufficient detail. This work presents the results of a systematic study on the evaluation of foamability by using an alternative mixture of carbonates with molten aluminium. Foams were obtained by varying the carbonates content, the mixing and the foaming time, both in single and double step processes. Moreover, the addition of low amounts of TiH2 in combination with these carbonates was also tested. The experimental results suggest that it should be possible to obtain foams with a similar quality and lower costs than other commercialized products, although further improvement is still needed.