Compression behaviors of cenosphere-pure aluminum syntactic foams

A new method has been established to predict the compressive strength of cenosphere-aluminum syntactic foams, showing the relation between the relative wall thickness of the cenopshere and the compressive strength of such foams. Quasi-static compression tests indicated that annealed cenosphere-aluminum syntactic foams can deform plastically at a relatively higher stress (similar to 45-75 MPa) and their energy-absorbing capacity can reach similar to 20-35 MJ m(-3). The deformation mechanisms of syntactic foams have also been discussed. (c) 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.