Dynamic Compression of Metal Syntactic Foam-Filled Aluminum Tubes

Abstract

The current research investigates the compressive properties of metal syntactic foam (MSF)-filled tubes at dynamic loads with an impact velocity of 4 m/s. For this purpose, A356 aluminum alloy syntactic foams were prepared using an infiltration casting technique with an incorporation of expanded perlite (EP) filler particles. The study involves the testing and comparison of both MSF samples and MSF-filled tubes under dynamic loading scenarios. In the case of MSF-filled tubes, aluminum tubes are either fully filled (FFT) or half-filled (HFT) with MSFs. The manufactured foams and foam cores have a similar macroscopic density across all tested samples. Under dynamic loading, the MSF, HFT, and FFT samples exhibit distinct and different deformation mechanisms. In MSFs, dynamic compression is controlled by shearing of the sample, whereas in HFTs and FFTs, dynamic deformation occurs through the folding and buckling of the tubes, accompanied by partial deformation of the MSF cores.