Patent ID: 7073558

Claim:
A process for producing a porous metal body, comprising: (1) maintaining under reduced pressure in the range between 10 âˆ’1 and 10 âˆ’6 Torr a raw metal material within a temperature range which is 50 to 200Â° C. lower than the melting point of the metal in a sealed vessel to thereby degas the raw metal material; (2) melting the raw metal material under pressurization of between 0.1 and 10 MPa by introducing a gas containing nitrogen gas and one or more gases selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, argon, and helium into the sealed vessel to thereby dissolve the gas in the molten metal; and (3) pouring the molten metal into a mold equipped with a cooling apparatus while controlling the gas pressure above and the temperature of the molten metal, cooling and solidifying the molten metal in the mold inside the sealed vessel to form a porous metal body.