LIGHT WEIGHT COMPONENT WITH INTERNAL REINFORCEMENT AND METHOD OF MAKING

1 . A method of making a light weight component, comprising:

forming a first metallic foam core into a desired configuration;

applying an external metallic shell to a discrete exterior surface of the first metallic foam core after it has been formed into the desired configuration;

arranging the first metallic form core to be adjacent to a second metallic foam core also formed into a desired configuration to form a desired pre-form shape, wherein an applied external metallic shell located on a discrete surface of the second metallic foam core is adjacent to the external metallic shell applied to the discrete exterior surface of the first metallic foam core; and

applying an external metallic shell to an exterior surface of the desired pre-form shape.

2 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the desired configuration is a hexagon.

3 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the desired configuration is a ring.

4 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the metal of the metallic foam core is selected from the group comprising: titanium; colbalt; aluminum; nickel; steel alloys, magnesium, copper, molybdenum, niobium, tungsten, zinc alloys, titanium aluminide, nickel aluminide and molybdenum disilicide.

5 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the metallic foam core is selected from the group comprising: an open cell structure; a closed cell structure and wherein the metallic foam core is formed into the desired configuration by a machining process selected from the group comprising: milling; grinding; electrical discharge machining (EDM); water-jet; and laser machining, wherein the desired configuration is slightly smaller than the final dimensions of the light weight component.

6 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the metallic foam core is a sheet of metallic foam and the sheet of metallic foam is formed into the desired configuration by a hot or cold forming process wherein the sheet of metallic foam is placed in die.

7 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the metallic foam core is an open cell structure and the applied external metallic shell defines a portion of a fluid conduit through the component.

8 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein an inlet opening and an outlet opening are formed in the external metallic shell and the metallic foam core is an open cell structure and the applied external metallic shell defines a portion of a fluid conduit through the component via the inlet opening and the outlet opening and wherein the external metallic shell is deposited on the exterior surface of the metallic foam core via an application process selected from the group comprising: flame spray application process; plasma spray application process; cold-spray application process; electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB/PVD); chemical vapor deposition; and electroplating application process.

9 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein an interim coat is deposited on the exterior surface of the metallic foam core prior to the application of the external metallic shell.

10 . The method as in claim 9 , wherein the interim coat is a ceramic based thermal barrier coating.

11 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising the step of: heat treating the metallic foam core after the external metallic shell has been applied to the exterior surface of the metallic foam core.

12 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising the step of: forming additional features in the metallic foam core after the external metallic shell has been applied to the exterior surface of the metallic foam core.

13 . The method as in claim 12 , wherein the additional features are formed by a drilling process.

14 . The method as in claim 13 , wherein a supplemental application of the external metallic outer shell is applied to the metallic foam core after the drilling process.

15 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the external metallic outer shell varies in order to provide localized structural rigidity to the component.

16 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the component is an axisymmetric duct.

17 . A component formed by the method of claim 1 .

18 . A method of making a light weight component, comprising:

forming a first metallic foam core into a desired configuration;

applying a metallic shell to a portion of an exterior surface of the first metallic foam core after it has been formed into the desired configuration;

arranging the first metallic foam core to be adjacent to a second metallic foam core such that the metallic shell applied to the portion of the exterior surface of the first metallic foam core is covered by the second metallic foam core and the first metallic foam core and the second metallic foam core define a desired pre-form shape; and

applying an external metallic shell to an exterior surface of the desired pre-form shape, wherein the metallic shell applied to the portion of the exterior surface of the first metallic foam core provides structural reinforcement to the component.

19 . The method as in claim 18 , wherein the component is an axisymmetric duct.

20 . A component, comprising:

a pre-form shape defined by a plurality of metallic foam cores each having a desired configuration;

a metallic shell applied to one of the plurality of metallic foam cores wherein the metallic shell is covered by another one of the plurality of metallic foam cores to define the pre-form shape; and

an external metallic shell applied to an exterior surface of the pre-form shape.