Effect of fluidity on the manufacturing of open cell magnesium alloy foams

Abstract The effect of fluidity on open cell AZ31 metal foam samples fabricated using a solid state space holder method was investigated. Granule was fabricated by plaster powder and perlite powder. Granules were sieved which compacted layer by layer in casting mold. Preforms which made by granules were then heated to 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C under a rough (mechanical) vacuum before pressure infiltration with AZ31 Mg alloy. Samples were infiltrated using vacuum pressure values range of 8–14 KPa. The conditions of pressure and temperature were performed in order to get different fluidity on manufacturer of open cell AZ31 metal foam specimen quantity. It is found that the fluidity plays significant role to determine the open cell AZ31 alloy foam. The fluidity is affected by preheat temperature and infiltration vacuum pressure. The macrostructure, the distribution of the pores, microstructure, infiltration length, and porosity were investigated.