A Study of Fabricating of Copper Foams Using Boric Acid as Foaming Agent

Copper metal foam was manufactured by means of powder metallurgy process. The novel material used in this research was boric acid powder as foaming agent on copper. Cu powders were mixed with 30-50% boric acid and pressed into green cylinders with axial pressing. Heat treatment process was performed for both foaming and sintering of samples. The microstructure characteristic and quasi-static compressive behavior of the foams at strain rate of 10−3s−1 were investigated. Copper foams with the porosity in the range of 30–40%, and cell size in the range of 200–400 µm have been produced.