Mechanical properties of particle stabilized aluminum foam

A cellular product, aluminum foam, can be manufactured by introduction of air or other gas into molten aluminum composites. Cell structure-cell size and cell wall thickness-is controlled by the process variables during manufacture. Both physical and mechanical properties are dependent on the cell structure with cell size being the dominant variable. In this paper, mechanical properties of aluminum foam in compression, tension and shear modes are described. The effect of material variables-composite alloy and volume fraction of particles-and strain rate regime are examined under compressive loading. The mode of deformation and failure is described and together with mechanical property data is briefly compared to the Ashby-Gibson theoretical models((1)).