Drop Weight Impact Behavior of Al-Si-Cu Alloy Foam-Filled Thin-Walled Steel Pipe Fabricated by Friction Stir Back Extrusion

In this study, Al-Si-Cu alloy ADC12 foam-filled thin-walled stainless steel pipes, which exhibit metal bonding between the ADC12 foam and steel pipe, were fabricated by friction stir back extrusion. Drop weight impact tests were conducted to investigate the deformation behavior and mechanical properties of the foam-filled pipes during dynamic compression tests, which were compared with the results of static compression tests. From x-ray computed tomography observation, it was confirmed that the fabricated foam-filled pipes had almost uniform porosity and pore size distributions. It was found that no scattering of the fragments of collapsed ADC12 foam occurred for the foam-filled pipes owing to the existence of the pipe surrounding the ADC12 foam. Preventing the scattering of the ADC12 foam decreases the drop in stress during dynamic compression tests and therefore improves the energy absorption properties of the foam.