Metal Foam Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Extensive use of metal foam - The global metal foam market is driven by the expansion of end-use sectors' desire for lightweight materials. The spending on building in developing nations is enhanced by rising per capita income, better living standards, and an increase in construction activity. The aforementioned phenomena is anticipated to have a favorable impact on the metal foam market during the forecast period.
  
  Due to India, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, the building industry in South Asia is also rapidly growing, the GDP projections for these countries range from 5% to 7% as per the statistics of World Bank. The rapid expansion of developing nations and the building industry are driving up demand for metal foam market in the next years.
• Releases of new products to expand the market - Because aluminum metal foam contains air bubbles that are produced during the manufacturing process, it has a higher energy absorption capacity than steel. To support the Made in India campaign, NALCO added Aluminum Alloy 1200 as a new product to its lineup. Grade 1200 commercial aluminum alloy has special qualities like high thermal conductivity, high reflectivity, and strong resistance to corrosion.
• Increased use of metal foams in industrial settings - The rise of automobile firms has been fueled by urbanization and globalization, which have led to the development of aircraft and emerging technologies. Roughly one-third of India's population resided in cities in 2022. Metals and alloys are utilized to make components in each of these sectors.
  
  Tantalum, titanium, and aluminum are the metals that are utilized to make metal foams. Because of their many special qualities, metal foams are widely used as parts of machinery, tanks, and other vehicles. They are also mass-produced items that are mostly found in cars, where they are used to improve ride comfort by lowering noise and vibration, increasing toughness, and absorbing impact energy.

Challenges

• High cost - The metal foam market's expansion is being somewhat impeded by concerns about the high cost of metal foams. Metal foam is expensive due to its complex and energy-intensive manufacturing methods. Additionally, decreased mechanical characteristics, microstructural heterogeneity, and lower fatigue strength are predicted to hinder metal foam market growth throughout the projection period, making it more difficult to weld, solder, and join metal foam. Maintaining the shape and size of the gas-filled holes found in metal foams during manufacture is a challenging task.
• Lack of understanding - Metal foams are irreparable, and once damaged, the entire metal foam has to be replaced by fresh material. Lack of understanding of primary mechanism for manufacturing superior quality metal foams is a major concern. Additionally, metal foams are produced in small quantities, and the manufacturing process is labor-intensive and takes a substantial amount of time.