23. Mechanical Characterization of Open Cell Aluminum Foams Using X-ray Computed Tomography

Open-cell aluminum foams show excellent potential for use in a variety of applications. In order to accelerate the use of aluminum foams in engineering industry, it is important to accurately understand the relationship between the manufacturing processes and the resulting foam properties. Two tests are developed to support development of finite element (FE) models that will be used to design foam geometries optimized to meet specific design criteria. A bulk crush test is created for small foam blocks which uses in situ X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging. A tensile experiment is developed to test individual foam ligaments, which measures the aluminum’s mechanical behavior and will be used to improve the simulation’s accuracy beyond what is possible using published bulk material properties of aluminum.