Development of Closed Cell Metallic Foams for Automotive Crashworthiness

Metallic foams with controlled porosity are an emerging class of ultra-lightweight materials that are receiving increased attraction in automobile, military and other commercial applications. Metal foams exhibit high stiffness to weight and strength to weight ratios, and thus offer potential weight savings. They also have the ability to absorb high amounts of energy during compressive deformation for efficient crashworthiness. In the present work, closed cell aluminium metallic foams were produced through liquid state processing by using calcium as viscosity modifier and titanium hydride as blowing agent. The porosity content of the foam was 88 %. The pores are differently sized and uniformly distributed. The cell wall microstructure was studied using optical microscope. The compressive response of the foam was studied at different percentage of deformation using uni-axial compression testing machine.