Study of the elastic properties of porous copper fabricated via the lost carbonate sintering process

Porous copper has numerous potential applications due to its attractive properties such as high ductility, good corrosion resistance, high surface area, good thermal and electrical conductivity, etc. Within the scope of this work, porous copper samples with 27-67 vol% porosity were fabricated using a mixture of copper powder and potassium carbonate powder, employed as space holders. The sample fabrication process involved the steps of powder mixing, uni-axial pressing, sintering, and final washing. Detailed structural analyses of the fabricated samples were performed by density measurement following Archimedes' principle, X-ray diffraction for phase analysis, and scanning electron microscopy for microstructural analysis. Three longitudinal elastic constants in each sample were determined in a non-destructive manner using ultrasound phase spectroscopy. Due to the applied uni-axial pressure and the resulting change in pore shape, the fabricated porous copper samples displayed transversely isotropic symmetry. A detailed analysis of the influence of pore shapes and morphologies on the experimentally determined longitudinal elastic constants has been carried out. The results have been compared with the predictions from different micromechanical models for the dependence of elastic constants on porosity.

Automated summary

Porous copper shows attractive properties such as high ductility, good corrosion resistance, high surface area, good thermal and electrical conductivity, etc., making it a material with numerous potential applications. In this work, porous copper samples with different porosities were fabricated using a mixture of copper powder and potassium carbonate powder. The fabricated samples were analyzed in terms of density, phase analysis, microstructural analysis, and determination of elastic constants. The influence of pore shapes and morphologies on the elastic constants was analyzed. The results were compared with different micromechanical models.