Abstract
A novel friction sintering process is used to obtain large copper foam plates using sintering and dissolution process. The process ensures easy and quick removal of the sintered product. Heat and pressure generated by downfeed of rotating tungsten tool pressed against a “top plate” results in solid-state sintering of copper powder particles. The large sized sintered part was obtained by providing a scan path for tool covering the “die” containing Cu-NaCl mixture. Note that no pre-compression of Cu-NaCl is done before the start of the process. Compaction and sintering both happen during the course of friction sintering. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of fracture surface indicate that pore morphology is dictated by the morphology of NaCl particles. Temperature increases with the increase in plunge depth. The stress-strain curves for obtained foam in compression are similar to the reported in.