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A. Boschetto et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 26 (2013) 1-11; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.25.01 2 This last technique is characterised by the following steps: a bed of particles of a leachable material is infiltrated by liquid metal under pressure and allowed to cool [2], afterwards leaching of the particles gives a cellular metallic structure of great uniformity. Although salt grains offer the advantage that they can be sintered to enhance the connectivity of the salt and change the structure of the pattern, the obtainable density depends on the packing efficiency of the granules, which is related to their size distribution. This process was pioneered by Polonsky et al. [3] that produced aluminium alloy foams. Only in the recent 15 years the production of high-purity foams by replication has been revived [4]. Adair et al. [5] studied the crystal shape and the growth of salt crystals to obtain several structures. In Gaillard et al. [6] the authors set up a procedure to fabricate NaCl powders by controlling their shape. Foams with spherical cells have been produced by Jiang et al. [7]. Goodall et al. [8, 9] varied the foam relative density by densifying the NaCl preform before infiltration. The results showed that cold pressing rather than sintering yields superior Young modulus. Despois et al. [10] investigated the effect of infiltration pressure on mechanical properties and permeability of foams. They found that as the pressure is increased, small finger-like protrusions appear lowering the foam permeability to fluid flow. On the other hand mechanical properties such as Young ’ s modulus and yield stress increase with increasing relative density. Kadar et al. [11] studied the compression behaviour of foams manufactured by replication casting of an eutectic Al – Si alloy. The acoustic emission has been employed to study that behaviour. Quadrini et al. [12] observed different microstructures along the height of the samples: the grain size decreases from the top, near the cooled piston, to the bottom of the foam. This behaviour can be related to the cooling rate and pressure during solidification [13]. It is noteworthy that the grain size distribution is everywhere fine if compared with the bulk sample: this is due not only to the holding pressure but also to the salt precursor. Thus good mechanical properties are expected and a further increase could be obtained after heat treatment. Porosity of the foam has been measured by Boschetto et al. [14] by means of digital image processing. The morphological analysis of the foam showed sharpened voids, especially in comparison with the ones obtained by compact powder processes. This is justified by the salt pattern that determines the formation of angular and faceted cells. At present metal foams have a very wide range of applications due to their properties [15]. Examples are: lightweight structures due to excellent stiffness-to-weight ratio [16]; heat exchangers and refrigerators due to their high specific surface area [17]; energy absorbers for the ability to absorb energy at constant pressure [18, 19]; acoustic absorbers for their sound absorbing capacity [19]; sandwich cores due to low density and fracture strength; flame arrester panels for their conductivity; filters for gas and liquid filtration; catalyst carriers for their good conductivity and high specific surface area; shock wave dissipation devices due to dumping capacity; air batteries. Considering that each application requires specific foam properties, knowing the relationship between manufacturing process parameters and foam properties is of paramount importance to tailor properties for a given application. For that reason in this work an original procedure based on image analysis has been set up to determine size, morphology and distribution of cells. This methodology, coupled with microstructural analysis, is a useful tool for investigating the effects of process parameters on foam properties. In order to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed method, in this paper the results related to twelve AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy specimens produced by using different process parameters are discussed. First the experimental set up to produce the foams is described together with the proposed specimen analysis method, then results and discussion are reported and finally the conclusions are drawn. E XPERIMENTAL Specimen fabrication he alloy used for producing foams is AlSi7Mg0.3 (A356.0). This alloy is commonly used in pressure and gravity casting for fabricating electric motors, automotive and structural components. The pattern was made of commercial NaCl that allows to set up a quite cheap industrial process. The mould was composed by a cylindrical core (Fig.1), a positioning base and an upper conveyor. The resulting specimen is 28 mm in diameter and 50 mm in height. A hollow oven allowed to keep constant the temperature of the model by a thermostatic controller. A hydraulic cylinder was employed to provide the pressure for the infiltration and solidification stage. The assembled apparatus is reported in Fig. 2. Pressure, piston speed, mould and crucible temperatures were acquired by an A/D input device system and controlled through Labview. The specimen manufacturing process includes several steps. First a sample (40 g) was taken from an aluminium ingot. The alloy was put in a graphite crucible heated in a muffle at 700 ° C. The salt (9 g) was sieved by means of a 3 mm mesh sieve in order to eliminate all the smaller particles, placed in a second crucible and heated at 700 ° C. The hollow oven was used T