Patent ID: 8012598

Claim:
A metal foam body having an open-porous structure, said open-porous structure comprising webs forming a supporting framework of said metal foam body, wherein channel shaped cavities are formed within the webs of said open-porous structure as being determined by a production of a base foam body, wherein said channel shaped cavities are provided with a metallic protective layer on an inner surface of the channel shaped cavities, and the inner metallic protective layer being made of a second material being different from a metallic starting material of said base foam body, wherein the webs of the open-porous structure have an outer metallic protective layer formed thereon, the outer metallic protective layer also being made of the second material, wherein before the formation of said inner protective layer, the free cross sections of said channel shaped cavities within the webs are smaller than 30 percent of the average pore size of said base foam body, wherein said base foam body is produced from nickel, iron or copper, and wherein said inner and outer protective layers are comprised of aluminum, an aluminum base alloy, an aluminide, a tin base alloy or a copper base alloy.