Fabrication of Open-Channel Aluminum by Template-Extraction Technique

Open-channel aluminum with directional holes is fabricated by extraction of stainless steel wires coated with release agent, boron nitride, which are embedded in solidified aluminum. In order to extract the wires from aluminum, tensile force is necessary. If a number of wires can be extracted simultaneously, the production of open-channel aluminum with many holes becomes feasible. Smaller extraction force is desirable to fabricate open-channel aluminum with holes as many as possible. It was found that the extraction force decreases remarkably by adding magnesium hydride to boron nitride because of forming porous layers between the wires and aluminum during melting of aluminum. Besides, the extraction force is also investigated as functions of diameter and length of stainless steel wires, which decreases with decreasing diameter and length of the template wires. The results show that small contact area of the wire to aluminum results in smaller extraction force, which is attributed to decrease in friction force of the wires to aluminum.