Abstract Metal foams are a new, as yet imperfectly characterized, class of materials with low densities and novel physical, mechanical, thermal, electrical and acoustic properties. This article describes a method named Self-propagating High-temperature Synthesis (SHS) process to produce open cell copper composite foams. Porous Cu composite was fabricated by the reactions between CuO, Al and C powders. The gas released during these reactions and also the initial porosity of the green powder compact were the source of the produced pores. The relative densities of the copper composite foams have been investigated for different ratios of powder weights. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized to characterize the porous samples. Analyzing the properties of the composite foams showed that the optimum weight fraction for blending initial powders was %84 CuO, %9.5 Al and %6.5 C. In addition, if the initial compacting pressure of the powders was decreased to below 100MPa, the SHS reaction did not take place properly.

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