The influence of the amount of CaCO3 foaming agent on the physical structure and mechanical properties of LM13 aluminum foam

This paper aims to investigate the effect of the amount of calcium carbonate as foaming agent on the physical and mechanical properties of LM13 aluminum foam. Aluminum alloy LM13 foams have been made using calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as foaming agent and calcium metal (Ca) as stabilizing particles with densities from 0.3 to 0.5 gr/cm3 (relative density from 0.12 to 0.18) and the pores size from 0.25 to 0.92 mm. The effects of the amount of foaming agent on the size of the pores, the minimum thickness of the walls and the density have been evaluated. Furthermore, the mechanical behavior of foams has been investigated using uniaxial compression test. The influences of the amount of foaming agent on compressive strength, elastic characteristics and energy absorption capacity of foams have been investigated. According to the obtained results, the use of more foaming agent leads to the production of foams with larger average pores size and less density. Also, increasing the amount of foaming agent reduces the compressive strength of foams in the uniaxial compression test and their energy absorption capacity.