On the Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Matrix Syntactic Foams

Metal matrix syntactic foams (MMSFs, often referred as composite metal foams (CMFs)) are lightweight materials with high specific strength. MMSFs are on the borderline between metal matrix composites and metal foams. On one hand MMSFs are composites, because they are filled by hollow particles and the particles may add strength to the material. On the other hand, they are foams, because the hollow particles ensure porosity to the material. Among metallic foams, MMSFs exhibit outstanding specific mechanical properties due to the hollow inclusions that are typically made from ceramics or high strength alloys, therefore they can be applied as structural materials. The goal of this paper is to summarize the available data on the mechanical properties of MMSFs with aluminum matrix in order to give a strong support to the design engineers. Since the foams are most frequently loaded in compression, the main part of this paper is organized around the available standard related to the compressive properties of porous materials and metallic foams. The quasi-static results are complemented by properties measured at higher strain rates. Besides this, some insight into the basic fatigue properties as well as into the toughness of MMSFs is also provided.