EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Composite metallic foams (CMFs) are consisting of a hollow or porous second phase as filler material and a light-weight matrix. CMSFs are considered high-performance metallic foams since their mechanical properties can be several times higher compared to ‘conventional’ open- or closed cell metallic foams. The main hindering fact against the general application of these light-weight structural materials is the relatively high price of the hollow filler particles (usually carefully prepared ceramic or metallic hollow spheres). To solve this problem, low cost, CMFs with cheap porous filler (light expanded clay agglomerate particles (LECAPs)) were produced and investigated in the structure – mechanical properties relationship point of view. The CMFs were produced by liquid state low-pressure infiltration from the combination of two matrices (Al99.5 or AlSi9MgMn, the latter is wide-spread in the automotive industry) and three different nominal diameter LECAPs (in the range of 3-5 mm, 7-9 mm, or 10-12 mm). The density of the produced CMFs fell in the 1.38-1.53 gcm-3 range. The compressive properties were characterized by standardized (ISO13314:2011) compressive tests. Besides the constituents, the alloying and the effect of the T6 heat treatment were investigated. The produced MMSFs proved higher or at least equal compressive properties than the top property materials published in the literature up to now. The AlSi9MgMn 4 mm LECAP filled, and T6 treated samples proved superior properties in the specific plateau strength and absorbed energy. The investigated CMFs collapsed plastically during their failure, despite the relatively high Si content in the case of AlSi9MgMn matrix.