METHOD OF PRODUCING ITEMS IN FOAM ALUMINUM

The invention relates to metallurgy and more particularly to methods for producing items from foam aluminum which can be used in various industries such as the building industry, car industry, lift-building industry, shipbuilding, aviation, and in other fields where there is a need for materials which combine properties such as lightness, buoyancy, fire resistance, environmental safety in addition to the capacity to absorb shock energy and fluctuations of sound and electromagnetic waves. The method for producing items from foam aluminum makes it possible to provide a homogeneous mixture of a molten metal and a blowing agent, whereby said mixture has the shape of a sprue which is different from the solid of revolution and secondly to improve the corrosion proofing of the finished product. The inventive method consists in the following: a molten metal is prepared from aluminum; the molten metal is distributed; and a blowing agent is added to said molten metal. Once the blowing agent has been added to the flow of molten metal, the said molten metal is distributed during continuous casting and ingot drawing at a rate that permits the molten metal containing the added blowing agent to solidify before the blowing agent starts to degrade. An ingot produced in accordance with the inventive method is treated to become a thick blank having the configuration of the finished product. The thick blank formed in accordance with such method is put into a mould and treated with intense heat in order to cause the material constituting said blank to foam. L'invention se rapporte à la métallurgie et notamment à des procédés de fabrication d'articles en mousse d'aluminium qui peuvent s'utiliser dans différentes industries, et plus particulièrement dans l'industrie du bâtiment, l'industrie automobile, en construction navale, en construction d'ascenseurs, en aviation, etc., où l'on a besoin de matériaux alliant des propriétés telles que la légèreté, la flottabilité, les propriétés ignifuges, le respect de l'environnement et la capacité d'absorber l'énergie de choc et les fluctuations d'ondes sonores et magnétiques. Le procédé de fabrication d'articles en mousse d'aluminium de la présente invention permet, d'une part, d'obtenir un mélange homogène du métal en fusion et de l'agent gonflant sous la forme d'une coulée qui est différente du solide de révolution et, d'autre part, d'améliorer la résistance des articles obtenus à la corrosion. Le procédé consiste à préparer un métal en