Effects of precursor preparation on performances of stainless steel foam with 3-D open cells network structure

The effects of the slurry loading and particle size of the stainless steel powder in the precursor on the open porosity and bending strength of stainless steel foams (SSFs) with 3-D open cells networks structure were investigated. The results show that the SSFs' bending strength gradually increases and the open porosity falls with increasing the slurry loading in precursor; the bending strength remarkably improves and the open porosity reduces little by little with the particle size of stainless steel powder minishing. The 316L stainless steel powder and the additive sol are mixed to make slurry, subsequently the slurry is immerged into the sponge to obtain the precursor, in which the slurry loading is 0.5 g/cm³, and then the precursor is sintered at the temperature of (1260 ± 2)°C for 30 min, a stainless steel foam can be obtained, which has good 3-D open cells network structure, aperture of about 1 mm, open porosity of 81.2% and bending strength of 51.72 MPa.