Compressive deformation behavior and energy absorption characteristic of aluminum foam with elastic filler
(1．School of Material Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China;
2．CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science and Technology of China,
Hefei 230031, China;
3．Laboratory of Internal Friction and Defects in Solids, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Hefei 230031, China)
2．CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science and Technology of China,
Hefei 230031, China;
3．Laboratory of Internal Friction and Defects in Solids, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Hefei 230031, China)
Abstract: An open-cell aluminum foam filled with silicate rubber (AFFSR) was fabricated by infiltration of the liquid silicate rubber into the open-cell aluminum foam. The experiments were carried out to investigate the compressive behavior and energy absorption characteristics of the material. It is found that the stress—strain response of the AFFSR exhibits five regions including two plateau regimes, which is quite different from the stress—strain curves of many unfilled metallic foams that usually exhibit three distinct regions. The plastic deformation of the AFFSR is prolonged because of the filled silicate rubber, compared with the aluminum foam without such a filler. The AFFSR also exhibits a higher energy capacity than the aluminum foam without filler. Additionally, for the prolonged plateau region in the stress—strain curve, the energy absorption efficiency of the AFFSR maintains a high level (above 0.6) over a wide strain range from 3% to 60%.
Key words: open cell aluminum foam; silicate rubber; compressive property; energy absorption capacity