Primary Features of Touchstone's Carbon Foam

Touchstone's Carbon Foam material offers the following features:

1. Low Cost
Touchstone's Carbon Foam is produced in a proprietary process from materials which are very inexpensive and readily available.

2. Manufacturing
Touchstone's Carbon Foam is produced both as panels of various thicknesses, and as foamed-to-shape parts.

3. Fire Resistance and Off-Gas Elimination
After heat treatments, CFOAM does not ordinarily contain a sufficient volatile material with which to support combustion or off-gas. The figure above illustrates its resistance to combustion and heat protection when exposed to a 1650°C acetylene flame. Touchstone's Carbon Foam has passed ISO 1182 non-combustibility standards.

4. Thermal Conductivity
Low thermal conductivity versions of Touchstone's Carbon Foam exhibit conductivities less than 1.0 W/mK, roughly equivalent to common mineral wool insulation. Higher conductive versions of Touchstone's Carbon Foam have conductivities higher than 50 W/mK.

5. Thermal Expansion
Touchstone's Carbon Foam's coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) can be varied between 3.5 and 6.5 ppm/°C.

6. Thermal Stability
Touchstone's Carbon Foam can serve in air to around 450°C, when it begins to oxidize. In an inert environment, Touchstone's Carbon Foam can serve at temperatures as high as 3500°C, when graphite begins to sublime. Under vacuum, Touchstone's Carbon Foam will normally vaporize only at temperatures above around 1500°C.

7. Design
Touchstone's Carbon Foam's properties can be readily engineered to meet different requirements; density, cell size, and cell connectivity. Its mechanical properties can be varied over a broad range.

8. Finishing
Touchstone's Carbon Foam can be integrated with many other materials; Examples include lamination with fiber-reinforced facesheets, impregnation with resins or metals, and thermal spraying with metals or ceramics.

9. Machinability
Touchstone's Carbon Foam is easily cut, milled, turned, etc. with conventional equipment such as band saws, routers, table saws, etc. It can also be machined with traditional machine shop equipment such as drill presses, mills, lathes, etc.

10. Joining
Touchstone's Carbon Foam can be joined by a wide range of common adhesives. This feature allows use of carbon foam building blocks to create larger or more intricate structures.