Cutting of porous aluminum immediately after foaming

Abstract

The shaping of porous aluminum (Al) is indispensable for its wide use in various industrial fields. In this study, the cutting of porous Al was attempted right after a precursor was foamed. The precursor was heated by optical heating to fabricate porous Al, and then the porous Al was cut by passing a cutter through it. From the surface temperature of the porous Al immediately before the cutting process and the observation of pore structures in the cross section after cutting, it was found that the cutting surface was good when the temperature was lower than the liquidus temperature of the base material. On the other hand, when the cutting temperature was low, the porous Al collapsed and could not be cut. X-ray computed tomography (CT) observations of the cut porous Al showed that the cutting did not affect the inner pore structures of the porous Al. This suggests that cutting while maintaining the pores of porous Al is possible.