Authors
Abstract
Porous copper was fabricated by means of a powder metallurgy process applied to tape casting. Lost Carbonate Sintering (LCS) was employed to control porosity within the component during processing. The weight ratio of the potassium carbonate introduced into the matrix ranged from 30-40 wt%. Additives such as; plasticizers, binders, dispersant and solvents were utilized to control the properties throughout the processes and ease fabrication. The component was debinded and sintered at 400 °C and 900 °C respectively, under vacuum. The potassium carbonate was removed from the sintered component via dissolution in water. By using X-ray Florescence (XRF) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) techniques, the effectiveness of the dissolution route at removing the space holder was investigated. The results show that porous copper produced in this way has porosity ranging from 75-85 % and pore size from 500-766 mm. The component produced has thickness ranging from 1300 -1800 mm.
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