Experimental analysis of the effect of control factors on aluminium foam produced by powder metallurgy/Kontrollparameetrite moju eksperimentaalne uurimine pulbermetallurgiameetodil valmistatud vahtalumiiniumile

Aluminium foams, produced by the powder metallurgy route, have a high potential for use in weight-sensitive construction parts. The stiffness to weight ratio is the main criterion for material selection in light-weight design. The aim of this study is to evaluate the properties and to optimize the control factors of a powder technique, developed at the Fraunhofer Institute, starting from aluminium powders with titanium hydride as the foaming agent. During the experimental work, many samples were made following the principles of the design of experiment. Then a study of the morphology and distribution of cells and of the walls of the cells was carried out and relative density was measured. Mechanical properties of foam samples were studied by quasi-static compression tests. The final evaluation of the most important features has been made using ANOVA statistical analysis. Key words: aluminium foam, powder metallurgy, foaming agent, design of experiments. Pulbermetallurgia teel valmistatud vahtalumiiniumil on hea kasutuspotentsiaal eelkoige kaalutundlikes konstruktsioonides, kus jaikuse ja massi suhe on materjali valiku pohiline kriteerium. Artikli eesmargiks on hinnata ja optimeerida Fraunhoferi instituudis loodud alumiiniumipulbrist ja vahumoodustajast--titaanhudriidist--vahtalumiiniumi pulbertehnoloogia kontrollparameetreid. Eksperimentide kavandamisel on kasutatud katsete planeerimise metoodikat. On uuritud kargstruktuuri morfoloogiat, kargede jaotust ning nende seinapaksust; kriteeriumiks on vahtalumiiniumi tihedus ja survetugevus. Pohiliste isearasuste hindamisel on kasutatud ANOVA statistilist analuusi.