The new technology for porous material producing

The new technology of producing unsinkable material from the aluminum alloy was patented at the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU).

The effect of porosity is produced by addition of foaming gas into liquid metal during re-melting of the aluminum material. The porous materials  can be used for increase of structures stiffness and sound and heat insulating proprieties, said the SPbPU’s Media-center.

“High porosity level can be used to decrease the density of structural elements, e.g. sheets. The density can be decreased even lower than the density of water. Such structural elements will be unsinkable. And its usage in shipbuilding will ensure unsinkability even with the leak in the hull”, says Oleg Panchenko, deputy head of the Laboratory of Light Materials and Structures  SPbPU, one of the inventors.

In many cases, the carrying capacity of thin materials (1 mm or less) is sufficient for a lot of structures. But material with such thickness sometimes has geometric limitations (the thickness is too small for manipulation) or it can’t be joined without deformation. Due to pores in porous material, it is possible to increase the thickness, maintaining the weight and increase the stiffness of the structure.

Unsinkable Material from the Aluminum Alloy

A similar technology has been patented in Japan, but it has specific feature that produced material will always be  entirely  porous. Researchers  of SPbPU found the way to produce the  homogeneous and heterogeneous distribution of pores in material. Because it is made of solid material  it can be either porous if necessary or  with thickening or solid structure. Using this technology double-layer sandwiches may be produced,  where only one side is porous, or areas on the  material with increased density for mechanical (bolts/studs) or welded joints may be created.

Patent for invention: No. 2619422 “Method for the production of a porous metal body made of  aluminum alloy”. Date of state registration: May 15, 2017.

For more info, please visit official website Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU).