Cymat Technologies is a materials technology company based out of

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, and involved in the production of stabilized aluminum foam.

Business

Cymat Technologies has the worldwide rights, through patents and licenses, to manufacture Stabilized Aluminum Foam (SAF). Cymat is focused on producing SAF for architecture, blast mitigation and automotive industries. The company markets architectural SAF under the Alusion trademark and automotive and blast mitigation SAF under the SmartMetal trademark. Cymat Technologies operates out of its manufacturing plant in Toronto, Canada. The plant can manufacture approximately $50 million in stabilized aluminum foam annually.

Process

As described in the patent originally created by

Alcan Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During ...

Patent US4973358
/ref> with parallel patents created by

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

, "Stabilized Aluminum Foam" is generated in a continuous casting process via direct shop air injection into a

Metal Matrix Composite In materials science, a metal matrix composite (MMC) is a composite material with fibers or particles dispersed in a metallic matrix, such as copper, aluminum, or steel. The secondary phase is typically a ceramic (such as alumina or silicon carb ...

(MMC) melt. The MMC comprises an Al-Si cast alloy with a volume of particle in suspension. The purpose of the particle is to provide melt stability and must adhere to the following criteria; Stabilized Aluminium Foam

* Consist of

Alumina Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

Titanium diboride Titanium diboride (TiB2) is an extremely hard ceramic which has excellent heat conductivity, oxidation stability and wear resistance. TiB2 is also a reasonable electrical conductor,J. Schmidt et al. "Preparation of titanium diboride TiB2 by spark p ...

Zirconia Zirconium dioxide (), sometimes known as zirconia (not to be confused with zirconium silicate or zircon), is a white crystalline oxide of zirconium. Its most naturally occurring form, with a monoclinic crystalline structure, is the mineral ba ...

Silicon Carbide Silicon carbide (SiC), also known as carborundum (), is a hard chemical compound containing silicon and carbon. A wide bandgap semiconductor, it occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite, but has been mass-produced as a powder a ...

Silicon nitride Silicon nitride is a chemical compound of the elements silicon and nitrogen. (''Trisilicon tetranitride'') is the most thermodynamically stable and commercially important of the silicon nitrides, and the term ″''Silicon nitride''″ commonly re ...

or any solid stabilizer materials * Must compose of less than 25 vol% of the MMC * Particulate sizes must range from 0.5 μm to 25 μm, preferably in the range of 1 μm to 20 μm Though it is a controversial topic, it is widely accepted that the presence of the solid particles aid in the "stabilization" of bubbles.M. Mukherjee, ''Evolution of Metal Foams during Solidification'', Page 20, October 14, 2008 It is thought that particulate aids in foam stability via the following mechanisms: * Increase bulk liquid viscosityS.W. IP, Y. Wang and J.M. Toguri, ''Aluminum Foam Stabilization by Solid Particles'', Page 2, March 30, 1998W. Deqing and S. Ziyuan, ''Effect of Ceramic Particles on Cell Size and Wall Thickness of Aluminum Foam'', May 15, 2003 ::*Slows the flow of molten metal through the cell walls to help maintain a stable structure. * Creates a mechanical disjoining pressureC. Korner, ''Foam Formation Mechanisms in Particle Suspensions applied to Metal Foams'', September 28, 2007 ::*A repulsive force which helps to maintain the cell wall thickness between two adjacent cells. * Reduction in

Drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

::*Presence of particulate in the foam helps to impede the flow of molten metal in the direction of gravity by obstructing the cell walls and sustaining the liquid. The process for the creation of Stabilized Aluminum Foam and can be broken down into these 4 rudimentary steps: #Melting #Air Injection #Casting #Solidification Once the raw MMC is melted, it is then transferred to the foaming apparatus where gas is injected into the melt and dispersed using either rotating impellers or vibrating nozzles.Manufacturing Routes for Metallic Foams
/ref> The bubbles rise to the surface and the resultant metal foam mixture cast will rise out of the foaming apparatus due to its density relative to that of the molten MMC. As the metallic foam is being cast, it is simultaneously drawn off the surface by, for example, a conveyor belt.Method of producing lightweight foamed metal
/ref> While it is drawn off, it is then cooled and forms a porous metallic structure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cymat Technologies Scientific organizations based in Canada Natural Resources Canada Companies based in Mississauga

Business

Process

See also

References