Magnesium and Magnesium Alloy Foams

In this article we report the required conditions for production of Mg and Mg-Al alloy foams starting from metallic powders. Al content was varied from 0 to 17 wt.%. Uniaxial hot pressing and extrusion were used to prepare foamable precursors both with and without blowing agent. Foaming was performed under argon atmosphere. Two different foaming techniques were employed: conventional foaming under 1 bar and Pressure Induced Foaming (MT). Foaming process was monitored in-situ by X-ray radioscopy. Foams were evaluated in terms of their volume expansion and macrostructure.