CHARACTERISTICS OF ALUMINUM FOAM UNDER DIFFERENT LOADING RATES

In this paper aluminum foam was produced using pure aluminum powder and calcium carbonate as foaming agent. This procedure ensures a low cost production method. Samples of aluminum foam were tested under both static and dynamic loading conditions. The quasi-static compression tests were used to evaluate the static characterization of aluminum foam. Hopkinson pressure bar arrangement was used to study dynamic properties of the produced material under high strain rates. The comparison between static and dynamic results shows that the specimen toughness increases with loading rates. Relative density increase produce a drop in absorbed energy in dynamic ranges of loading while in static loading condition the opposite of this relation obtained between relative density and energy.