Endurance of Damping Properties of Foam-Filled Tubes

Abstract

The favorable energy-absorption properties of metal foams have been frequently proposed for damping or anti-crash applications. The aim of this paper is to investigate the endurance of these properties for composite structures, made by a metal or a hybrid metal-polymeric foam used as the core filling of a tubular metal case. The results of experimental tests are shown, run with two types of structures: 1) square steel tubes filled with aluminum or with hybrid aluminum-polymer foams; 2) round titanium tubes filled with aluminum foams. The paper shows that the damping properties of a foam-filled tube change (improve) with the number of cycles, while all other dynamic properties are nearly constant. This result is very important for several potential applications where damping is crucial, e.g., for machine tools.

Critical Buckling Load of Thin-Walled Plastic Cylinders in Axial and Radial Loading: Overview and FEA Case Study

“…Often, the structure can be made even lighter, as the addition of foam can allow the reduction of the wall thickness without sacrificing performance [35]. Foam-filled components are also more vibration-resistant and therefore often have longer fatigue lives due to improved energy absorbency by the foam [36]. Several studies [37][38][39][40][41][42][43] have explored the production and use of polymer and metal foams for structural applications.…”

In situ manufacturing and mechanical properties of syntactic foam filled tubes

“…In recent years, many investigations have been focused on metallic foam fillers to improve the energy absorption and mechanical properties of thin-walled tubes. Moreover, studies have shown that metallic foams can increase the components' damping level [4], in some cases up to five times compared to the tube itself [5]. This has resulted in a focused attention towards application of FFTs as safety components such as antiintrusion bars [6], crash boxes [7], frame of coach structures [8], or bumpers [9] in the car industry.…”

“…the size of the cut section. Recently, in situ direct foaming has attracted attentions [4,11,15,25,29,38]. In this process, foaming of precursors which are combinations of metallic powder and gas releasing agent takes place directly inside the tube.…”

From Stochastic Foam to Designed Structure: Balancing Cost and Performance of Cellular Metals

“…Use of metal foams as one of several components in multi-material, hybrid, and similar structures integral foams integral foam casting [ 53 , 54 , 55 ] integration of foam parts in metal castings two component processes for syntactic foams produced via metal injection molding (MIM) [ 56 ] sandwich structures Aluminium Foam Sandwich (AFS) [ 10 , 57 ] steel face sheet sandwich materials via foaming between face sheets [ 58 ] APM-based sandwich [ 59 ] CFRP-metal foam sandwich structures etc. foam-filled hollow components in situ foaming to achieve foam-filled tubes and extrusions [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ] co-extrusion of conventional and foamable material followed by in situ foaming [ 8 ] ex situ foaming and subsequent adhesive bonding of cores to hollow metallic structures [ 61 , 64 , 65 ] ex situ foaming and subsequent adhesive bonding of cores to hollow CFRP structures, including use of metal foam parts as permanent core/mandrel in FRP production, e.g., filament winding [ 66 , 67 ] etc. hybrid foams Polymer foam-APM hybrids [ 68 , 69 ] etc.…”

“…foam-filled hollow components in situ foaming to achieve foam-filled tubes and extrusions [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ] co-extrusion of conventional and foamable material followed by in situ foaming [ 8 ] ex situ foaming and subsequent adhesive bonding of cores to hollow metallic structures [ 61 , 64 , 65 ] ex situ foaming and subsequent adhesive bonding of cores to hollow CFRP structures, including use of metal foam parts as permanent core/mandrel in FRP production, e.g., filament winding [ 66 , 67 ] etc. …”