Claims
- 1. A powder mixture for producing aluminum metal foamed bodies comprising:a powder comprising an aluminum alloy; a powder comprising or containing uniformly distributed particles of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy with a fraction of silicon in the form of primary silicon crystals and less than 20% by weight, based on the total quantity prior to foaming, for serving as nucleating particles which bring about a uniform bubble formation and homogeneous foam structure and have a particle size of smaller than 30 μm; and a gas-producing expanding agent powder.
- 2. A process for producing metal foamed bodies from a powder mixture, comprising the steps of:producing a homogenous mixture from at least one metal powder which forms a metal matrix, a powder comprising or containing uniformly distributed particles of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy with a fraction of silicon in the form of primary silicon crystals and less than 20% by weight, based on the total quantity prior to foaming, for serving as nucleating particles which bring about a uniform bubble formation and homogeneous foam structure, and at least one gas-producing expanding agent powder; placing the mixture into a die; foaming the mixture by heating the mixture to a temperature above the decomposition temperature of the expanding agent to form a foamed body; and cooling the foamed body.
- 3. The process as claimed in claim 2, further comprising the step of compacting the mixture under pressure in the die.
- 4. The process as claimed in claim 3, in which the compacting under pressure takes place by cold or hot isostatic pressing.
- 5. The process as claimed in claim 3, in which the compacting is followed by hot-forming by extrusion or rolling.
- 6. The process as claimed in claim 5, in which the compacting or the hot-forming, is followed by further processing by cold-forming and/or machining.
- 7. A method for the production of metal foamed bodies, comprising adding, to a mixture containing at least one metal powder which forms a metal matrix and at least one gas-producing expanding agent powder, a powder containing uniformly distributed particles of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy with a fraction of silicon in the form of primary silicon crystals and less than 12% by weight, based on the total quantity, the powder which contains uniformly distributed particles of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy functioning as nucleating particles which bring about a uniform bubble formation and homogeneous foam structure in the production of a foamed body.
- 8. The method as claimed in claim 2 with a particle size of smaller than 30 μm.
- 9. The process as claimed in claim 3, in which the compacting is followed by further processing by cold-formiing and/or machining.
- 10. The process as claimed in claim 4, in which the compacting is followed by further processing by cold-forming and/or machining.
- 11. The powder mixture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the powder particles individually comprise up to about 50% silicon.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
197 37 957 |
Aug 1997 |
DE |
|
198 10 979 |
Mar 1998 |
DE |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is a 371 of PCT/EP98/05036, filed on Aug. 8, 1998, which claims priority to German Application Nos. 197 37 795.5, filed on Aug. 30, 1997 and 198 10 979.2, filed on Mar. 13, 1998.
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
102e Date |
371c Date |
PCT/EP98/05036 |
|
WO |
00 |
2/25/2000 |
2/25/2000 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO99/11832 |
3/11/1999 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3087807 |
Allen et al. |
Apr 1963 |
|
4969428 |
Donahue et al. |
Nov 1990 |
|
5112697 |
Jin et al. |
May 1992 |
|
5151246 |
Baumeister et al. |
Sep 1992 |
|
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2362293 |
Jun 1975 |
DE |
4018360 |
May 1991 |
DE |
4340791 |
May 1995 |
DE |
19651197 |
Jun 1997 |
DE |
9101387 |
Feb 1991 |
WO |
9203582 |
Mar 1992 |
WO |