A new method for calculating the specific surface area of porous metal foams

Abstract

Porosity and pore diameter are two elementary parameters that are easy to be measured for porous materials. A new method is proposed for calculating the specific surface area of porous metal foams based on a mathematical relationship between this area and the porosity and pore diameter. Using this method, the specific surface areas of metal foams prepared by different methods, namely electrodeposition and high-pressure permeation casting, are successfully calculated. The results indicate that the present model can accurately describe experimental data.

Keywords:

• porosity
• porous metal
• metal foam
• specific surface area

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Testing Foundation of BNU. This support is greatly appreciated.