Manufacturing of steel foams by Slip Reaction Foam Sintering (SRFS)

This manuscript deals with the manufacture of steel foams by Slip Reaction Foam Sintering (SRFS). Closed cell steel foams were synthesized by steel powders, H3PO4, silica and water. Experimental tests were performed to study the influence of steel powders, H3PO4, silica and water weight% on the overall mechanical performance of the steel foams. The analysis of each operational parameter was performed by ANalysis Of VAriance (ANOVA). The experimental findings revealed the manufactured metal foams were characterized by mechanical energy absorption as high as 10 mJ, making these materials very promising in several technological fields. Further, the use of a statistical approach allowed to identify the best settings of the process parameters, with reduced silica and H3PO4 content and increased water concentration found to increase the energy absorption capability and the overall product quality.