An innovative manufacturing method of aluminum foam sandwiches using a mesh-grid reinforcement as mold

Aluminum foams are becoming potential materials for applications in several industrial fields, due to an intriguing combination of physical and mechanical properties. Their performances can be enhanced by using them as core of reinforced systems, like sandwich structures. Traditional reinforced foams usually present metal sheets or composite materials as skins, but these solutions are in contrast with some requirements of industrial applications, like lightness and high-temperature resistance. This work proposes an innovative single-step process, based on the powder compact melting technique, for the manufacture of aluminum foam panels reinforced by a steel wire mesh-grid, also acting as a mold. In doing so, problems of cost-effectiveness and flexibility typical of the conventional in-mold processes can be overcome on one hand and light-weight, high-temperature resistant aluminum foam sandwiches can be made on the other. A manufacturing campaign yielded the optimal foaming temperature for the production of the sandwich panels. In addition, mechanical tests highlighted the effectiveness of the mechanical coupling between the core and skin and a significant improvement of the bending load carrying capacity, compared with plain foam panels, of these innovative sandwiches.