Metal Foams

Book excerpt: This book offers the first full-scale technical treatment of an important class of engineered porous materials: metal foams. Written by a team of metal foam experts from around the world, the volume offers new, as well as fundamental, information on all aspects of metal foams, including their theory, manufacture, structure-property relationships and applications. The book explains microscopy and modeling tools that enhance the prediction and determination of metal foam properties related to fluid flow, heat transfer, sound absorption and failure analysis. Attention is given to the many techniques for manufacturing and testing metal foams and to how their microstructure can be controlled to create custom properties for applications in acoustics, bone implants, heat sinks, lightweighting and crash protection. The text is sufficiently detailed to offer guidance to design and development engineers, and yet is basic enough to be used as a textbook or reference by students of materials science, mechanical, structural or chemical engineering requiring an introduction to the subject.