Metal

foam
from space to earth

This brochure is the result of a cooperation between Bekaert and CREAX.

The Bekaert Group is a world leader
in advanced metal transformation and coating technologies.
CREAX is the reference
in systematic innovation, problem-solving and technology transfer.
1

INTRODUCTION
Open celled aluminium foam has been a
high quality product for more than 30 years
now. Open celled metal foams combine
the advantages of metal with the benefits
of highly permeable lightweight materials.
Thus, resulting in functional materials
with a huge variety of applications. Due
to its higher cost it has been applied in
elite markets such as aerospace and
renewable energy products.

Now design engineers, car manufacturers,

chemical plant engineers, machine
developers and other innovative minds
can profit from the extreme performances
when integrating the aluminum foam,
bringing their product to a complete new
level.

Currently Bekaert has reduced production

costs, lowering the price and making the
product affordable for a broader range of
application fields.

derwater filter, aseptic room

lame arrester, floating bodies,
straightener, wind tunnel, fuel
radiation components, heat
detection system, pool boiling,
ake systems, oven, semicond.
open cell structure
, thermal engine regenerator,
essure vessel, architectural
organic structure: dodecahedral
ystems, shock absorber,
extremely
brake piston, thermal
insulation high aspect ratio
r vapour creatio

SPECIFICATIONS

APPLICATIONS TODAY

condenser

fuel reformer

isotropic

aluminium & inox

density: 10 ppi, 20 ppi and 30 ppi
= pore sizes of 5 mm, 3 mm, 2mm,
respectively
can be anodized & coloured
possible to weld foam onto metallic
parts

REAL SIZE

pipelines filter

flame arrester

heat radiation components

exhaust scrubber

high power electronics

water desalination

hydrogen storage

vacuum vessel

light coverings

oil cooling
20 PPI

piston

acoustic panels
gearbox

catalyst carrier
muffler silencer

wet wing

water boiler

liquid nitrogen tank

flow straightener
heat storage compartment
pressure vessel

10 PPI

flow mixer
brake systems

heat pipe

waste heat recovery

engine block

CO2 storage
3

IC

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THERMAL

The structure has a lot of other properties,

which are often combined in a heat
exchanger. The most important properties
for use in a heat exchanger are: mixing
effect, acoustical damping, catalytic
surface, aesthetical,

The foam has an extremely high surface

aspect ratio. Moreover, the interconnected
bubbles form a convoluted path for any
gases or liquids flowing through them.
Such a complex path continually brings
the gases or liquids into contact with the
metal walls. This results in outstanding
convective heat transfers. The low mass
per volume results in a low heat capacity.
It reacts almost instantly to temperature
changes, which results in short transient
regimes, making it a very controllable
heat exchanger.

CURRENT APPLICATIONS

The isotropic structure distributes heat

evenly in a three-dimensional manner;
contributing to improved isothermal
systems. Since the structure is isotropic,
the performance is independent of the
direction of convective fluid flow. This
makes it very applicable in applications

exhaust gas catalysts

power electronics heat sinks

20 PPI foam comparison on

16mm Alu tube
heat transfer cofficient
(W/m C)

TR

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PROPERTIES

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ACOUST
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where the fluid flow is arbitrary. The foam

shows extremely improved performance
with near-zero fluid flow velocities,
compared to conventional systems.

25

20 PPI-NW

20

20 PPI
10 PPI

15
10

blanc

5
4

10

12

14

16

18

air velocity (m/s)

brake systems cooling

heat management
gas sorption systems
water boilers
thermal engines
heat pipes & heat storage
solar systems
fuel reformers
cryogenic applications
cooling towers condensation
cracking equipment
water desalination

Cladding the outside of an oil

cooling tube with metal foam will
increase the cooling performance
by more than 100%.

fuel evaporators
4

THERMAL

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AC
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People have always been attracted to
organic shapes that are copied from
nature. The aluminum reticulated
foam is an exact replica of the natural,
dodecahedral shape that is found in
bone structures and other structural
natural members.

Its a very elegant lightweight structure

that splatters light onto walls with artistic
results. The foam can be colored so as
to create your own personal atmosphere.
It functions as indoor lampshades for
artificial lighting when light sources are
integrated into the design. The foam
itself acting as low-voltage electrical
conductor for eg. LEDs. It also serves as
aesthetical ventilation grids, or as window
closures, filtering the incoming sunlight.
Furthermore, metal foam is used in airpermeably separation walls. Lightweight
structural designs with futuristic looks can
be created.

Combining the aesthetical effect with

some of the other unique properties of
the foam (heat transfer, anti-splashing,
) results in a functional design
product with a perfect balance between
performance and aesthetics.

VISUAL

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Structural strength
Foams can be used to optimize the
weight-specific bending stiffness of
engineered components. For example,
the bending stiffness of flat foam panels
of a given weight, width and length
is approximately proportional to their
thickness, and therefore inversely related
to density.

internal dissipation into thermal energy.

If structural strength or vibration damping
is required, mostly, closed metal foams
are chosen. However, open celled
metal foams could have the additional
advantage of being extremely lightweight
(which is important in applications where
high accelerations are required), or having
the possibility to be cooled internally by a
cooling medium that is flowing trough the
open celled metal foam.

which limit accelerations in crash

situations. This mode exploits the
horizontal, irreversible part of the loaddeformation diagram.
DEFORMATION CURVE

Energy absorbers
Owing to their high porosity foams can
absorb a large quantity of mechanical
energy when they are deformed, while
stresses are limited to the compression
strength of the material. Foams can
therefore act as impact energy absorbers

CURRENT APPLICATIONS

Vibration damping
Sandwich panels made from metal
foam absorb mechanical vibrations by
Prototype of a BMW engine mounting bracket
manufactured by LKR Ranshofen (Austria).
From left to right: empty casing, entire
composite part consisting of closed cell foam
core and cast shell, section through composite
part (courtesy of LKR).

bike frame
bone substitute / prosthesis
engine block
furniture
gas valves
gearbox
golf club
lift arm
piston
steering column
pressure vessel
6

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Anti sloshing
A similar effect is recognized when
making a composite by partly filling the
metal foam with a liquid medium. During
fast accelerations, the foam will inhibit
sloshing (i.e. resonating, shaking) of the
liquid, whereas the liquid would tumble
from one side to another when the foam
is not present.
7

Draining
Moreover the structure can host materials
such as soil and biological material.
The mixing & diffusing capacity of the
structure and its metallic strength result in
an optimal drainage matrix.

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Anti splashing
Fast moving substances move in a
straight line. The struts of the metal foam
are divided evenly in a three-dimensional
manner, such that the chance of
scattering of the fast moving substance
is maximized. The substance will scatter
and slow down. Therefore the metal foam
is permeable to any slow moving objects
such as small particles, liquid, air, but will
act as a shield for any of these objects
moving with a high velocity.

Open-cell metal foams have also been

used to build the plasma-flow controllers
needed to ensure good mixing and
smooth delivery of the gases that etch
semiconductors.

Filtering
Aluminium struts are optimally distributed
in a three-dimensional manner troughout
the foam, maximising the chance of a
flow-through liquid or gas to strike the
aluminium surface. The gases adsorb
easily onto the big internal surface of the
metal foam. It can therefore be used as an
exhaust gas scraper in a lot of chemical
processes. Although the pore size might
be large, for some applications it is small

enough to trap the particles out of a gas

stream. The large pore sizes prevent
clogging of the pores.
Pressure drop
1500

pressure drop
(Pa/cm)

STRUCTURAL

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PROPERTIES

Mixing & diffusing

The interconnected bubbles of the metal
foam form a convoluted path for gases
or liquids flowing through them, and
the twisting and tumbling ensures good
mixing, perfect for delivering a thorough
mixture of fuel and air to an acetylene torch
for example, or for blending pigments into
plastics.

20 PPI

1200

20 PPI-NW
10 PPI

900
600
300
5

10

15

20

25

30

air velocity (m/s)

CURRENT APPLICATIONS
anti-slosh baffle
pipelines filter
underwater filter
aseptic room filter
hot gas filter
laser particle arrester
flame arrester in pipelines
air conditioning system
elevator boxes
elevator doors
fire protected rooms
pistons

FLOW

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Unlike the bulk metal, the aluminium

foam is essentially fireproof. Aluminium
foam stands up to a blow torch that would
turn normal aluminium into a puddle and
set it alight. No one has studied this
phenomenon in depth yet, but one theory
is that the cells in the foam prevent heat
from being conducted into the metal.
Heating also coats the surface of the
foam with a naturally protective layer
of aluminium oxides, leaving very little
unprotected aluminium that could catch
fire. The combination of light weight and
resistance to fire could make aluminium

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Flame retardation
Similar as to fast moving gases, fast
moving flames are slowed down by the
metal foam. Moreover, the supply of
oxygen to the flame will be slowed down,
which might completely kill the flames.

CURRENT APPLICATIONS
flame arrester in pipelines
air conditioning system
elevator boxes
elevator doors
fire protected rooms
pistons

The

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Thermal insulation
Metal foams are not as thermal insulating
as glass fibre reinforced polymers
(GFRP) or similar materials. However,
metal foams can take advantage over
the previous mentioned solutions if other
properties are also important, such as
mechanical strength, ... The open cell
foams have better performance compared
to closed cell foams.
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foam ideal for elevator cars, for example.

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CURRENT APPLICATIONS

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SOUND ABSORPTION

Open celled metal foams are used widely

as electrodes. Since a high specific
surface area is required, foams with
relatively small pore sizes are preferable.
However, the reticulated structure can
promote extremely good accessibility
and homogeneous distribution of fluid
flows. The foam can also function as
power supply conduct for low voltage
applications.

Open celled foams attenuate airborne

sound waves by increasing air resistance,
thus reducing the amplitude of the waves.
The energy is dissipated as heat. Acoustic
foams are typically made from polymers
of metals by particle sintering or fibre
technology. Special designed porous wall
panels are present on the market as well.
The open celled reticulated foam is an
aesthetical alternative for these.

electrodes
battery
electrolysis
fuel cell
spark catchers
CURRENT APPLICATIONS
acoustic panels
muffler silencer
jet engine intake
loudspeaker housing
road side sound barriers
engine casing
microphone
radar reflector

COMPOSITES

CURRENT APPLICATIONS

Since the metal foam has an open cell structure, it can easily be impregnated
with other materials. By doing so, the unique properties of the metallic foam
are combined with the properties of the matrix material to end up with a new
class of high quality composite materials.

rubber tracks
heat storage components
cermet compositions
superconductors

10

If you are interested in this product please contact:

Johan Hugelier
Project manager
johan.hugelier@bekaert.com
+32 51 33 35 54
N.V. Bekaert S.A.
Bekaertstraat 2
BE-8550 Zwevegem
Belgium
Tel.: + 32 56 76 61 11
Fax: + 32 56 76 67 79
webmaster@bekaert.com
www.bekaert.com

100910

CREAX nv
Mlk. Plumerlaan 113
BE-8900 Ieper
Belgium
Tel.: + 32 57 22 94 80
Fax: + 32 57 22 94 81
info@creax.com
www.creax.com