Development and characterization of aluminum alloy foam - cork hybrid structures

Abstract

Cellular solids and porous materials have been considered as one of the most suitable lightweight multifunctional materials for a wide range of commercial and industrial applications, e.g. in medicine, military. Their use contributes to an immediate and significant weight reduction and material savings of the components but also to multifunctionality due to their 3D cellular structures (open-cells or closedcells). Herein, hybrid structures based on cellular materials are developed and studied by combining open-cell aluminum foam with cork. These hybrid structures were prepared by infiltrating a mixture containing polymer-coated cork powders into the open-cell foam. The samples are geometrically analyzed using X-ray microcomputed tomography to extract morphological and topological properties of the voids and the solid phase. The mechanical, thermal, acoustic, and fire retardancy properties of these aluminum foam-cork hybrid structures are evaluated and compared with their individual components (open-cell aluminum alloy foam and agglomerated cork).