Yves Conde

Microstructural tailoring of open-pore microcellular aluminium by replication processing

The replication process is presented and discussed with emphasis on methods for microstructural tailoring of open-pore microcellular aluminium-based foams, highlighting methods it offers for control of principal foam mesostructural and microstructural parameters: pore volume fraction, pore shape, pore size(s), as well as the composition and microstructure of the metal making the foam.

Microstructure, Strength and Creep of Aluminium-nickel Open Cell Foam

Al–6.4 wt% Ni open-cell foams produced by replication are tested in compression and in tension at room temperature and creep tested in tension at 450°C. The mechanical behaviour of this foam at room temperature is consistent with that observed for other open-cell metallic foams. A strong dependence on relative density as well as dependence on stress and temperature of the steady-state creep rate are captured by the model described by Mueller et al. [Scripta Mater. 57 (2007) p.33], itself a simplification of variational estimates by Ponte Castañeda and Suquet [Adv. Appl. Mech. 34 (1998) p.171]. The foam exhibits two regimes of creep, separated by a critical stress; these features can be interpreted on the basis of the microstructure of the Al–6.4 wt% Ni alloy making the foam. This microcellular eutectic Al–Ni exhibits attractive creep failure resistance compared to other open-cell aluminium alloy foams.

Scaling of conductivity and Young’s modulus in replicated microcellular materials

Scaling exponents for the conductivity and stiffness of replicated microcellular materials exceed commonly predicted values of 1 and 2. We show here that this is caused by the fact that, in replicated microcellular materials, the solid architecture varies with the relative density: a simple derivation based on the physics of powder consolidation returns and explains the observed scaling behaviour. The same derivation also gives an explanation for Archie’s law, known to describe the conductivity of wet soils.

Uniaxial deformation of microcellular metals: model systems and simplified analysis

Microcellular aluminium can be produced by a process known as replication; this involves the infiltration of a packed bed of NaCl particles which are subsequently leached after metal solidification. The resulting material features a uniform distribution of equisized pores, the shape and volume fraction of which can be tailored, as can the composition and microstructure of the metal making the resulting metal “sponges”. These display a regular uniaxial stress-strain behaviour, at both room and elevated temperature, which is interpreted using standard composite models for Young’s modulus coupled with variational predictions for non-linear deformation of two-phase composites by Ponte-Castaneda and Suquet, adapted and simplified for the specific case at hand.