Alternative starting materials for the production of aluminum foam by the powder metallurgical process

In the past it could be proven that aluminium foam is a construction material appropriate for numerous applications. The widespread use of aluminium is still hampered by the high production costs resulting on the one hand from the costly production method, and on the other one from expensive starting materials. The present work focuses on studies on alternative, cheaper starting materials. The results presented in this work support the idea that aluminium chips may be successfully used as base material instead of atomised powders. It could also be proven that good foaming rates can be achieved with calcium carbonate as foaming agent for aluminium.