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2012
Conference Paper
Titel
Transfer of manufacturing process for stainless-steel foam to industrial scale
Alternative
Überführung des Herstellungsprozesses von Schaum aus korrosionsbeständigem Stahl in die Industrie
Abstract
Typical Schwartzwalder replica-foams are manufactured by using a reticulated polyurethane-foam, which is impregnated with slurry by kneading and pressed out to homogenize and to cover only the surface of the foam and not the total volume of the unit. Subsequently, they are dried and finally a thermal treatment is performed, during which the polyurethane is burned out and the metal powder is sintered. Although this technology is quite simple, only large-scale production for ceramic molten metal filters are known (Selee, Vesuvius, Shengquan and others). This paper describes activities to transfer stainless steel foams from a lab to an industrial scale and focuses on slurry development as well as thermal treatment development and first product applications. Furthermore, characterization methods are described, which were important for the successful development process.