Characterization and analysis of compression load behaviour of aluminium alloy foam under the diverse strain rate

Abstract The use of lightweight aluminium (Al) alloy foams is rapidly gaining popularity in automotive sector, aerospace, etc., which require crash energy absorption, weight reduction and sound damping capacity. Al–alloy foams, such as, LM 30 + 15wt% SiCp are prepared by melt route process using the principle of compression deformation behaviour. The structure parameters of Al–alloy foams are cell size, cell wall thickness and shape of the cell. The present work describes the compression behaviour of LM 30 + 15% SiCp foams at strain rates varying between 10 −3  s −1 and 10 s −1 at room temperature. The stress–strain curve shows linear elastic region, plateau region and densification region. In course of this study, the compressive deformation behaviour of these aluminium foams was examined in order to assess its plateau stress and densification region. The fabricated aluminium foams were assessed by FE-SEM, EDAX, XRD, and Material-pro analyser. It was also noted that LM 30 + 15wt% SiCp Al–alloy foam stress–strain curve exhibits superior plateau stress. The energy absorption capabilities with its microstructures deformation mechanism could also be noted after carrying out the compression test was on the Universal Test Machine (UTM). The results revealed the energy absorption per unit volume of LM 30 + 15wt% SiCp Al–alloy foams.

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