Application-related properties of sintered metallic fiber structures

Crucible melt extraction yields short metal fibers with equivalent diameters as low as 50 µm from almost arbitrary metals and alloys. Highly porous components can be made from such fibers by suitable deposition and sintering methods. Interest in such open-porous structures arises mostly from functional high-temperature applications. Accordingly, components with porosities of 50 to 95 % were manufactured from stainless steels, intermetallics, and iron or nickel base superalloys. Depending on the type of application, they were made in different shapes such as flat plates for heat shielding, cylindrical parts for heat regeneration, or tube-shaped filter cartridges for hot gas filtration. In this paper, an overview of testing results relevant to potential applications is given. Measured material properties include heat conductivity, strength, and fluid flow properties.