OPEN-POROUS METAL FOAM BODY AND A METHOD FOR FABRICATING THE SAME

Disclosed are an open-porous metal foam and a method for manufacturing the same. An open-porous metal foam according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is made of an iron-based alloy including 15 wt % or more of chrome and 5 wt % or more of aluminum. The open-porous metal foam is a semi-product that is formed of iron or the iron-based alloy that does not include chrome and aluminum or includes a smaller amount of chrome and aluminum in the powder when manufacturing, and the surface and the open pore thereof are uniformly coated with the powder of the iron-chrome-aluminum alloy and the organic binding agent. When heat treatment is performed under a reduction atmosphere, sintering is performed. In this case, the metal foam body that is formed of the iron-chrome-aluminum alloy is obtained by compensating concentrations of alloy elements between the semi-product and the powder by diffusion, and a content of chrome and aluminum in the metal foam is smaller than a content of chrome and aluminum included in a starting alloy of the used powder.