Effect of Cell Morphology and Heat Treatment on Compressive Properties of Aluminum Foams

In this article, the compressive behavior and anisotropy of both open- and closed-cell aluminum foams under different heat treatments were examined. For the closed-cell A356/SiCp foam, due to the age-hardening effect, the yield strength of the heat-treated specimens was found to be more than 200% of that of the as-cast specimens. The yield strength of the foam in the transverse direction was however only slightly higher than that in the longitudinal direction, which may be related to the relatively spherical cell structure of the foam. For open-cell Al6061 foams, heat treatment results in a significant increase in yield strength and also changes the failure mode from ductile to brittle. The open-cell foam further demonstrates a strong anisotropy. The causes of such phenomena are discussed in the article.     

Polymer foams for personal protection: cushions, shoes and helmets

Three areas, where polymer foam products are used in personal protection, are reviewed to contrast the foam micromechanisms and the use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for engineering design. For flexible open-cell foams used for seating cushions, the main deformation mechanism is cell edge bending; regular cell models can predict much of the compressive response. Hyperelastic FEA models can then predict the forces for foam indentation. For flexible closed-cell foams used in shoe midsoles, cell air compression dominates the response; diffusive air loss leads to foam deterioration with use. Hyperelastic FEA models can predict the interaction between the foam and the heelpad. Finally, for rigid closed-cell foams used in helmets, the permanent stretching and wrinkling of cell faces dominates the response. Crushable foam FEA models, which consider the yield surface and hardening, predict different responses for impacts on the road and on a kerbstone.     

开孔泡沫金属压缩实化特性研究

对开孔泡沫金属微结构实化过程进行分析,理论分析表明开孔泡沫金属的实化应变不但与其相对密度成幂律关系,而且还与泡沫金属的单元结构特征密切相关.由此提出了一种用于描述相对密度较低的开孔泡沫金属压缩实化特性的数学模型,在该模型中泡沫结构和筋条材料对泡沫金属实化特性的影响以材料常数的形式体现,理论分析结果与试验结果完全一致.     

相对密度对泡沫铝力学性能和能量吸收性能的影响

对不同相对密度的两种胞孔结构--开孔和闭孔泡沫铝进行了单轴压缩试验,研究了相对密度对泡沫铝力学性能和能量吸收性能的影响.结果表明:随着相对密度的增大,泡沫铝的屈服强度与流动应力也相应增加,通过对本实验结果进行拟合,得出泡沫铝的屈服强度与相对密度的关系式.泡沫铝材料吸收的能量随着应变量的增大而增加,在相同应变量下,高密度开孔泡沫铝的吸收能比低密度闭孔材料多.吸能效率反映材料本身的一种属性,高的理想吸能效率表明泡沫铝是一种优良的吸能材料.     

Strain-rate effects in Ni/Al composite metal foams from quasi-static to low-velocity impact behaviour

Metal foams are used as absorbers for kinetic energy but predominantly, they have only been investigated under quasi-static load-conditions. Coating of open-cell metal foams improves the mechanical properties by forming of Ni/Al hybrid foam composites. The properties are governed by the microstructure, the strut material and geometry. In this study, the strain-rate effects in open-cell aluminium foams and new Ni/Al composite foams are investigated by quasi-static compression tests and low-velocity impact. For the first time, drop weight tests are reported on open-cell metal foams, especially Ni/Al composite foams. Furthermore, size-effects were evaluated. The microstructural deformation mechanism was analysed using a high-speed camera and digital image correlation. Whereas pure aluminium foams are only strain-rate sensitive in the plastic collapse stress, Ni/Al foams show a general strain-rate sensitivity based on microinertia effects and the rate-sensitive nano-nickel coating. Ni/Al foams are superior to aluminium foams and to artificial aluminium foams with equal density.     

Grain Size Effects on the Mechanical Behavior of Open‐cell Nickel Foams

The dependence of the mechanical behavior of nickel foams upon their grain size was studied. First, the grain coarsening phenomenon which occurs during the processing of foams was analyzed. A metallurgical characterization of the grain growth during heat treatment was performed. The grain size effects on the mechanical properties was then studied, namely, via the Hall‐Petch law. The foam walls being very thin, roughly 10 μm in thickness, grain growth and mechanical behavior might be different compared with conventional materials. The present results obtained with foams were compared with literature data on bulk pure nickel and with nickel foils of 10 and 50 μm in thickness which are good candidates for the modeling of the cell walls. The EBSD technique allowed observing the absence of preferred crystallographic orientations for both foams and foils. A mechanical model in the spirit of that by Gibson and Ashby was finally presented incorporating the grain size effect on yield strength and hardening modulus. This model provided a good estimation of the experimental data.     

Shear properties of CMB syntactic foam

In this research, a triaxial shear test is used as a means to provide yield surface data as well as other strength characteristics for carbon microballoon (CMB) syntactic foam. Additionally, pure shear tests and tensile tests are used to probe areas of this stress space not included in the triaxial shear tests. The data are used to characterize the material’s yield strength in stress space. The determined yield surface, the strain and other deformational behavior characteristics provide the necessary information for an accurate model and engineering design. The CMB foam specimens were divided into two sets: one with Thornel pitch-based carbon fibers and one without; both use Kerimid 601 as the binder. The CMB syntactic foam with fibers exhibited lower shear strength than the CMB syntactic foam without fibers. This is evident not only in the determined shear envelopes but also in the values obtained for the hydrostatic yield of both foams. Complementary analysis of the blending process of mixing fibers with CMB has been shown to destroy the microballoons and thus reduce the foams strength. The consequences of incorporating alternative materials can be verified with further testing.     

Open-cell cavity-integrated injection-molded acoustic polypropylene foams

In this study, a commercially available foam injection-molding machine was enhanced with a mold opening technique to produce polypropylene open-cell acoustic foams. Gas counter-pressure was used to improve the cell morphology and uniformity of the injection-molded foams. Their structure and thickness were controlled by applying different degrees of mold opening. The sample structure, the cell morphology, and the acoustic behavior of the foams were characterized. A foamed structure with an open-cell content of 67% and an expansion ratio of 4.6 was obtained when the mold was opened by 4.5 mm. Although further opening of the mold did not significantly increase the open-cell content, it triggered crack creation in the middle of the foams, where the creation of cavities was also facilitated. The injection-molded foams with a cavity and a high open-cell content, presented remarkable acoustic properties: a peak absorption coefficient of 0.95 was observed for foam with a 73% open-cell content and a 9 mm cavity. An automated system was also developed to perforate the acoustic foams, and the acoustic properties of foams both with and without perforation were studied. While perforating the foams widened their absorption coefficient frequency spectrum, it did not improve their transmission loss.     

Creep of open-cell Voronoi foams

The power-law creep of open-cell Voronoi foams is calculated using finite element analysis. The results are used to determine the geometrical constants in the power-law creep model for an open-cell foam with a random microstructure. In some foams, individual struts may be missing, either through fracture, as is the case in some metallic foams, or through resorption, as is the case in osteoporotic trabecular bone. Analysis of the effect of random removal of struts within the foam on the creep rate indicates that it can have a dramatic effect: removal of only a few percent of the struts can increase the creep rate by one to two orders of magnitude.     

Effect of structure on the creep of open-cell nickel foams

A method of constructing the deformation mechanism maps of open-cell foams is proposed. Starting with the deformation behaviour of the constitutive material and taking account of foam geometry, we are able to determine the dominant deformation mechanisms in the foam as a function of the temperature and the applied-stress. The influences of cell-size, cell-strut shape and scales in the microstructure are studied. The model is applied successfully to the experimental results available for open-cell pure nickel foams.     

Measuring elasto-plastic properties of solid wall materials of metallic foams at elevated temperatures by using indentation hardness technique

To evaluate or design metallic foams at the meso-level for applications at high temperatures, an indentation method is extended to measure the Young’s moduli, the yield strengths and the strain hardening exponents of the cell wall materials. The method was verified against a type of aluminum foam and the elasto-plastic properties of the aluminum cell walls were measured at various temperatures up to 400 °C. An approximate linear temperature dependence is observed for the hardness, the Young’s modulus and the yield strength. The present study provides a feasible way to investigate the meso-mechanical behavior of foam materials at high temperatures.     

Mechanical properties of open-cell foam synthetic thoracic vertebrae

This study presents comprehensive morphological and mechanical properties (static, dynamic) of open-cell rigid foams (Pacific Research Laboratories Inc. Vashon, WA) and a synthetic vertebral body derived from each of the foams. Synthetic vertebrae were comprised of a cylindrical open-cell foam core enclosed by a fiberglass resin cortex. The open-cell rigid foam was shown to have similar morphology and porosity as human vertebral cancellous bone, and exhibited a crush or fracture consolidation band typical of open-celled materials and cancellous bone. However, the foam material density was 40% lower than natural cancellous bone resulting in a lower compressive apparent strength and apparent modulus in comparison to human bone. During cyclic, mean compression fatigue tests, the synthetic vertebrae exhibited an initial apparent modulus, progressive modulus reduction, strain accumulation and S-N curve behaviour similar to human and animal vertebral cancellous bone. Synthetic open-cell foam vertebrae offer researchers an alternative to human vertebral bone for static and dynamic biomechanical experiments, including studies examining the effects of cement injection. Presented, in part, at the XXth Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics and 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, Cleveland, OH, July 31-August 5, 2005     

纳米纤维增强闭孔泡沫材料的力学性能

为研究纳米纤维增强闭孔泡沫材料的力学性能,采用Voronoi随机泡沫模型对闭孔泡沫材料的细观几何结构进行模拟,并将纳米纤维随机分布在泡沫材料的胞壁中,利用改进的自动搜索耦合（ASC）技术将纤维单元与基体单元进行耦合,建立了能够反映纳米纤维增强闭孔泡沫材料细观结构的数值模型。在此基础上,进一步研究了泡沫模型随机度、相对密度以及纳米纤维长径比和质量分数对纳米纤维增强闭孔泡沫材料弹性模量与屈服强度的影响规律。结果表明:由所建立的数值模型得到的纳米纤维增强闭孔泡沫材料的弹性模量和屈服强度与实验值吻合较好;提高泡沫模型的随机度会使复合泡沫材料的弹性模量和屈服强度增加,而当随机度达到0.450以后,材料的弹性模量和屈服强度几乎不再发生变化;当相对密度在0.05~0.30范围内变化时,复合泡沫材料的弹性模量与屈服强度几乎随相对密度的增加呈线性增长;提高纳米纤维长径比和质量分数也会使材料的弹性模量和屈服强度得到提高,但当纤维长径比达到500以后,纤维长径比的增强作用逐渐减弱。所得结论对纳米纤维增强闭孔泡沫材料的制备具有重要意义。      

A study of fabricating and compressive properties of cellular Al–Si (355.0) foam using TiH2

Al–Si (355.0) alloy foam has been produced by Alporas method (in which foam alloy melts, and titanium hydride is used as a blowing agent). Mechanical behavior such as quasi-static compression (strain–stress curves, energy absorption capacity), also the effects of thermal properties on the macroscopic structure of the produced foam were investigated. In addition, the effect of energy absorption capacity on percentage porosity has also been studied. The research shows that the produced foam with an average cell size and proper distribution has a more mechanical stability compared to the foams with no such characteristics. It was found that yield strength tends to increase from 12.51 MPa for porosity 74.0% to 22.32 MPa for porosity 54.0%. This foam has also been compared with other foams such as Al-pure foam and Mg foam. It can be stated that Al–Si (355.0) foam has a higher yield strength in comparison to Al-pure foam and Mg foam.     

Strain rate effects on the compressive property and the energy-absorbing capacity of aluminum alloy foams

The strain rate sensitivity of various relative densities, open-cell aluminum alloy foams fabricated by a powder metallurgical method is investigated under compression loading. Their response to strain rate has been tested over a wide range of strain rates, from 10⁻³ to 2600 s⁻¹ at room temperature. Within this range, the experimental results show that the yield strength and the energy absorbed increase with an increase of strain rate. However, the yield strength of higher relative density foams increases bilinearly with the logarithm of strain rate, and the yield strength of lower relative density foams shows only a linear increase. The compaction strain slightly decreases with an increase of strain rate. The higher relative density aluminum alloy foams are more sensitive to strain rate than the lower relative density foams.     

Yield strength of twin-belt cast Al–Mg–Sc–Zr alloy after annealing

AA5xxx aluminium alloys are used in the automotive and packaging industries owing to their high strength and ductility. The addition of Sc and Zr to these alloys has shown promise for improving high temperature stability and therefore broadening the range of applications. This high temperature stability is due to the formation of fine Al₃(Sc, Zr) precipitates during aging. In this work, two twin-belt cast Al–3%Mg alloys, one with 0·4% Sc and the other without Sc, were annealed at 300 and 400°C. Hardness, tensile yield stress and electrical resistivity measurements were used to examine the evolution of microstructure and strength of the alloys. These results were then utilised to develop a yield stress–precipitation model to describe simultaneous precipitation hardening and recovery.     

The wet Kelvin model for air flow through open-cell polyurethane foams

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to compute the air-flow permeability K for laminar flow, for wet Kelvin foam models, as a function of cell size and cell face hole size. The predictions were compared with experimental data for a range of open-cell polyurethane (PU) foams. This suggests that the foam permeability is a function of the area of largest hole in the cells. The predictions are almost the same as those for dry Kelvin foams, showing that the face hole size and cell size are the main factors that determines foam permeability.     

Effect of aging parameters on the mechanical properties of naturally aged Al–Mg–Si alloy

Among the extruded products within the Al–Mg–Si system, AA6082 alloy is regarded as high strength alloy which is used for automotive structural applications. Room temperature storage in between the solution heat treatment and the paint bake cycle is unavoidable problem and undergoes natural aging. Hence, natural aging time in the conventional T4 condition must be modified after the solution heat treatment in order to avoid any hardening during storage before forming processes. The present work was investigated to improve paint bake response of extruded 6082 profiles by employing pre‐aging in between the solution heat treatment and the paint bake in order to obtain sufficient strength for the required in‐service dent resistance. Pre‐aging treatment was performed for 5 min at 180 °C, 200 °C and 225 °C to improve bake hardening response of extruded 6082 profiles. Tensile tests and micro hardness measurements are performed to determine the natural aging effect on mechanical properties. In order to understand the precipitation hardening of this aluminum profile with a different natural aging time, differential scanning calorimetry measurements are performed.     

Experimental Investigation on Steel Foams Fabricated by Sintering-Dissolution Process

This article describes a new process to manufacture open-cell steel foams. Calcium chloride anhydrous is used as a space holder. By changing the values of the main manufacturing parameters such as volume percentage, and the size and shape of the space holder, we produce different steel foam samples which cover a wide range of solid fraction, pore size, and shape. The effects of space-holder content and sintering condition such as temperature and time on the porosity of steel foam samples are discussed. The microstructure and composition of steel foam samples are observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The compressive curves of steel foams are measured by a universal testing machine. The experiment results show the compressive strength of steel foam samples with porosities between 65% and 85% is in the range of 66.4 ～ 12.9 MPa. The compressive strength depends mainly on the porosity and pore shape. The absorbed energy per unit volume (W) of steel foams with porosities between 85% and 65% is in range of 6.8 ～ 31.2 MJ/m³. Under the condition of identical porosity, the absorbed energy per unit volume (W) of steel foam is about three times of aluminum foam. In compression, steel foam specimens show heterogeneous macroscopic deformation.     

Elastic behavior of multi-scale,open-cell foams

The mechanical properties of cellular materials are still subject to numerous theoretical and experimental investigations. In particular, the impact of cell size on the foam’s elastic response has not been studied systematically mainly due to the lack of experimental techniques with which the cell size and relative density of materials can be varied independently. This paper presents the results of a study of the elastic behavior of open-cell foams as a function of relative density and the size of the interconnected, spherical pores. First, the chemical procedure allowed us to produce polystyrene open-cell foams in which the relative density and the average cell diameters were varied independently. The results of compression tests performed on these foams showed an unexpected influence of the cell diameter (at constant relative density) on the elastic response. The analysis of the microstructure of the foam revealed the presence of a complex nanostructure in the edge of the cells that appeared during the synthesis procedure. An analytical model (an extension of the Gibson–Ashby model) is presented, which takes into account the complex multi-scale structure of the foam and accurately describes the observed dependence of the measured Young’s moduli on cell size. This approach was confirmed further by a finite element numerical simulation. We concluded that the observed dependence of elastic modulus on cell size was due to the heterogeneous nature of the material that constitutes the walls of the cells.