Investigation of the Porosity Gradient in Thickness Direction Formed by Cold Rolling in Porous Aluminum

Abstract

To adapt porous material for its application as low noise trailing edge, a special rolling process, using a time-varied rolling gap, was used in previous research to produce a porosity gradient in the direction of rolling. Investigations suggest that a gradient in porosity may also be produced in the thickness direction of the material, i.e., in the rolling gap direction, without using a specialized rolling mill. Such a gradient may help to further increase acoustic efficiency of porous materials. The aim of this study was to analyze the dependency of such a gradient on the rolling parameters, and to clarify which stress components are significantly responsible for an increased near-surface compaction. Experiments using different relative compressed lengths were performed to analyze shear-dominated and friction-dominated rolling. The material was characterized using compression tests, computed tomography and flow resistance measurements. It is shown that the compressed length is an important parameter for adjusting a porosity gradient. Rolling with small values of compressed length during all rolling passes leads to increased compaction of near-surface regions, compared to interior ones. The difference in porosity achieved was up to 15%. Furthermore, the results suggested that a gradient in hydrostatic stress is responsible for the porosity gradient. Validation of the results by FE simulation is forthcoming, but not part of this publication.