Investigating the mechanical properties of stainless steel foams produced by dissolving spherical urea particles as a space holder

Abstract

Foam materials are a family of new and advanced materials that, due to their unique characteristics, will have a lot of potential for development in the coming years. The family of foam materials is divided into three categories: metal foams, ceramic foams, and polymer foams. Compared to ceramic and polymer foams, metal foams are newer and their properties and applications are being developed So, it seems that a bright future is waiting for these materials. The current research deals with the production of metal foams made of 316L stainless steel, which has a relatively wide application in the medical industry, especially the construction of implants. For this purpose, the method of dissolving spherical urea particles in water has been used as a spacer. In order to study the effect of porosity and production pressure on the mechanical behavior of 316L stainless steel, a standard pressure test was performed on foam samples produced under different production pressures and porosity percentages and their mechanical properties were investigated. In addition to conducting experimental tests, foam finite element models with zero and 30 percent porosity were created and pressure tests were simulated for them.