Aluminium Foam

ive just been reading up on how to make aluminium foam

lol just need to mix in lots of hydrogen into the melt
and it seams the easiest way is with calcium carbonate mixed in
from what ive read the calcium will thicken up the aluminium melt so the bubbles dont separate , so proberly not good for sand casting , rather blocks to be cut down to size later
??? good to know ??
at 3% (by weight)at temp of 700c they say you should get 70% foam and drop the weight to 0.8kg/lt ( it will float)
adding any more than 3% up too 10% just makes the bubble size larger , increasing the weight too volume
1.1mm bubbles at3%
1.4mm bubbles at 10%
the larger the grain size of calcium carbonate , the larger the bubbles , they were using 1um
and dry / heat up your powder before hand
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0723081758.htm
http://www.metalurgija.org.rs/mjom/V..._MJoM_1603.pdf
the aluminium foam has great ,heat , sound and energy absorption properties

calcium carbonate is a pool PH adjusting additive , readily available in even "outback" hardware stores :-)

i have not tried this , and the chemical reaction produces carbon dioxide , so ware your suit and face shield , who knows what could happen

on another page they were adding hollow steel balls too aluminium and getting some light weight good strength alloys

Dont recon darwin would look to outback these days.

Havent been up there since 99, dont recon I would recognise the joint now.

i live in the rural area to the south of Darwin where Australia Post rips me off with postage , because its zoned as Outback

If memory serves me right you wouldnt be far from Palmerslum.

If you are ordering a fair bit of stuff thru Aust post, maybe a post box at Palmer... would work out better?