Freeze-casting is a directional solidification technique that is utilized to fabricate materials exhibiting anisotropic, elongated pore structures. Pore morphology is defined, in large part, by the morphology of the solidified fluid.
Titanium foams exhibiting dendritic and lamellar pore structures have been produced, through the use of non-aqueous and aqueous processing respectively. These materials exhibit anisotropic mechanical properties as a result of their anisotropic pore structures. Compressive strength for loads applied parallel to the wall direction of titanium foams are found to be, on average, 2.5 times greater than for those applied perpendicular to the wall direction.