Study on the production of Fe–Cr–Mn–C–Si foam by nitrogen solubility difference between the liquid and solid phases

The feasibility of the production of Fe-base metallic foam by using the nitrogen solubility difference between the liquid and austenite phases has been studied in the Fe–Cr–Mn–C–Si system. Compositions showing a suitable solubility gap for precipitation of gas pores upon solidification have been derived by thermodynamic calculations of the nitrogen solubility in the liquid and solid phases, using the interaction parameters of nitrogen. Small amount of foams were produced for different compositions. The foaming involved dissolution of chromium nitrides into the melt and subsequent quenching. Four different compositions were tested: by varying the C content between 2 and 6 wt.%, the effect of the primary carbides on the foam microstructure could be studied. The presence of those carbides appears as an important element for the promotion of the pore nucleation and the prevention of pore coalescence. The addition of SiO2 powder in some experiments illustrated the beneficial effect of a nucleating agent to reach a homogeneous distribution of the gas pores.