FAQ
What are metal foams?
Metal foams are porous materials (also called cellular materials) made of metal (copper, nickel, alloys, etc.) that contain a large proportion of air (generally from 70% to 95%). The most highly cited metal foam advantages in scientific literature are their high specific surface area, light weight (since they are composed essentially of air), high strength-to-weight ratio, good sound absorption, good energy/impact absorption and can be recycled.
What differentiates open-cell and closed-cell metal foams?
There are two types of metal foams: closed-cell foams and open-cell foams.
Closed-cell metal foams, generally made of aluminum, are composed of bubbles trapped in metal (like bread). Closed-cell metal foams are mainly used to strengthen lightweight structures.
Open-cell metal foams are composed of interconnected pores (like a sponge). Since a fluid can circulate through the material, they are best fitted for heat transfer. With Metafoam's solution impacting the largest contact area between the metal and the fluid, such heat transfers are greatly improved compared to current industry standards.
What is specific surface area?
Specific surface area represents how much exposed area a three-dimensional object has. It is, most of the time, expressed in square meter per cubic meter (m²/m³) and is calculated by adding together the areas of all the faces of the object.
For example, a cube of 1 meter x 1 meter x 1 meter has a specific surface area of 6 m²/m³ since it has 6 sides. In comparison, Metafoam's material has an average specific surface area of 20,000 m²/m³. Some talk about surface density (m²/kg) which is related to specific surface area. A large specific surface area increases performance in most of the applications since thermal, electrochemical, chemical or any other reactions can be greatly enhanced.
What is the difference between Metafoam's material and metal foams from other manufacturers?
Due to its unique production process based on powder metallurgy, Metafoam has advantages regarding its:
Even if many metallic foams could be manufactured with Metafoam's production process, the Company focuses on copper foams used as wicking structures for heat pipes and vapor chambers used in the electronic industry. Currently, Metafoam has strategically chosen to not produce other metallic foams.
Why focusing on copper foams?
Every type of metal, in the shape of a foam or not, has distinctive properties (oxidation, electrical conductivity, resistance to high temperature, etc). Copper has some interesting thermal conductivity properties compared to other metals. As a result, copper was chosen by Metafoam in targeting the electronics thermal management market.
What are the feasible geometries?
Since Metafoam's copper foam is flexible in its production process, it is possible to get a large variety of shapes. Metafoam has also developed a know-how in bonding copper foam to bulk metal (plates, sheets, tubes, etc.). Such metallic bonds often allow increased thermal, electrical and mechanical properties of the component.
Metal foams are porous materials (also called cellular materials) made of metal (copper, nickel, alloys, etc.) that contain a large proportion of air (generally from 70% to 95%). The most highly cited metal foam advantages in scientific literature are their high specific surface area, light weight (since they are composed essentially of air), high strength-to-weight ratio, good sound absorption, good energy/impact absorption and can be recycled.
What differentiates open-cell and closed-cell metal foams?
There are two types of metal foams: closed-cell foams and open-cell foams.
Closed-cell metal foams, generally made of aluminum, are composed of bubbles trapped in metal (like bread). Closed-cell metal foams are mainly used to strengthen lightweight structures.
Open-cell metal foams are composed of interconnected pores (like a sponge). Since a fluid can circulate through the material, they are best fitted for heat transfer. With Metafoam's solution impacting the largest contact area between the metal and the fluid, such heat transfers are greatly improved compared to current industry standards.
What is specific surface area?
Specific surface area represents how much exposed area a three-dimensional object has. It is, most of the time, expressed in square meter per cubic meter (m²/m³) and is calculated by adding together the areas of all the faces of the object.
For example, a cube of 1 meter x 1 meter x 1 meter has a specific surface area of 6 m²/m³ since it has 6 sides. In comparison, Metafoam's material has an average specific surface area of 20,000 m²/m³. Some talk about surface density (m²/kg) which is related to specific surface area. A large specific surface area increases performance in most of the applications since thermal, electrochemical, chemical or any other reactions can be greatly enhanced.
What is the difference between Metafoam's material and metal foams from other manufacturers?
Due to its unique production process based on powder metallurgy, Metafoam has advantages regarding its:
- specific surface area, which largely influences efficiency in heat exchange applications - such a high specific surface area is reached because the unique microstructure of Metafoam's open-cell material which is composed of pores interconnected by "micro-pores" called windows
- strong wicking structure
- quality due to greater control of the material's key parameters
- competitive pricing
Even if many metallic foams could be manufactured with Metafoam's production process, the Company focuses on copper foams used as wicking structures for heat pipes and vapor chambers used in the electronic industry. Currently, Metafoam has strategically chosen to not produce other metallic foams.
Why focusing on copper foams?
Every type of metal, in the shape of a foam or not, has distinctive properties (oxidation, electrical conductivity, resistance to high temperature, etc). Copper has some interesting thermal conductivity properties compared to other metals. As a result, copper was chosen by Metafoam in targeting the electronics thermal management market.
What are the feasible geometries?
Since Metafoam's copper foam is flexible in its production process, it is possible to get a large variety of shapes. Metafoam has also developed a know-how in bonding copper foam to bulk metal (plates, sheets, tubes, etc.). Such metallic bonds often allow increased thermal, electrical and mechanical properties of the component.