Investigation on the compressive properties of some Al foams with different matrixes

Three kinds of opencell aluminium foam with the same parameter were made of the commercially pure Al with high ductile and low strength, the high strength AlMg alloy and the brittle AlZn alloy respectively. The compressive experiments on these foams have been conducted. The experimental results show that the deforming behavior and the energy absorption property of aluminium foams were affected significantly by the property of the matrix, and although the three distinct deforming regions were observed in the compression of the foams with different kinds of matrix, the difference in their deforming behavior is notable. The foam which was made of the commercially pure Al with high ductile and low stength exhibited the characteristic of typical ductile metallic foam with low plastic collapse strength, however, a typical deforming behavior of brittle metallic foam was observed in the compression of the foamed AlZn alloy with a brittle matrix of high strength. The energy absorption capacity and efficiency of the foamed AlZn alloy were much higher than those of the other two kinds of foam.