Development and Mechanical Characterization of Ni-Cr Alloy Foam Using Ultrasonic-Assisted Electroplating Coating Technique

Metal foams and alloy foams are a novel class of engineering materials and have numerous applications because of their properties such as high energy absorption, light weight and high compressive strength. In the present study, the methodology adopted to develop a Ni-Cr alloy foam is discussed. Polyurethane (PU) foam of 40PPI (parts per inch) pore density was used as the precursor and coating techniques such as electroless nickel plating (ELN), ultrasonic-assisted electroplating of nickel (UAEPN), and pack cementation or chromizing were used to develop the Ni-Cr alloy foam. The surface morphology, strut thickness and minimum weight gain after each coating stage were evaluated. It was observed from the results that the adopted coating techniques did not damage the original ligament cross-section of the PU precursor. The minimum weight gain and the coating thickness after the UAEPN process were observed to be 42 g and 40–60 μm, respectively. The properties such as porosity percentage, permeability and compressive strength were evaluated. Finally, the pressure drop through the developed foam was estimated and verified to determine whether the developed foam can be used for filtering applications.