Numerical and Experimental Study of Quasi-Static Loading of Aluminum Closed-Cell Foams Using Weaire–Phelan and Kelvin Tessellations

Abstract

Study of porous materials, in particular closed-cell foams, has always attracted researchers' interest due to the advantages these materials offer in applications where low weight, buoyancy, insulation, or energy absorption is of importance. In this study, quasi-static compressive experimental tests are conducted for low-, medium-, and high-density aluminum foams and their mechanical properties are obtained. In addition, two types of lattice structures based on regular repeating unit cells (Kelvin and Weaire-Phelan) are modelled and their suitability for predicting the mechanical behavior of closed-cell foams in quasi-static configuration is evaluated and compared. Due to the irregular structure of cast foams, it is computationally very expensive to reproduce numerical models with similar structural topology. Using tessellation method can be a step forward in investigating various parameters affecting the properties of closed-cell foams. The results indicated that as compared to Kelvin models, the Weaire-Phelan models better mimic the deformation of manufactured specimens. On the contrary, as compared to the Weaire-Phelan models, the mechanical properties obtained from the Kelvin models are in general closer to the experimental results. The study results also showed that as the foam density increases, the densification strain decreases, while all other mechanical properties (elastic modulus, yield stress, plateau stress, and energy absorption capacity) increase.

Impact performance of RC piers protected by closed-cell aluminium foam (CAF) of different thicknesses

“…In experimental compression-shear tests of CAF under quasi-static conditions, Xueyan et al [21] observed that an increase in the pore size of CAF increased the yield stress under the same density conditions. Shakibanezhad et al [22] conducted quasi-static compression tests on low-, medium-, and high-density aluminium foams and found that with an increase in foam density, the dense strain decreased, whereas other mechanical properties (such as elastic modulus, yield stress, platform stress, and energy absorption capacity) increased. Li et al [23] studied the mechanical behaviour of CAF under biaxial loading and conducted shear-compression coupling tests by changing the loading angle.…”

Modelling of closed-cell aluminum foam using Weaire–Phelan unit cells

“…Kelvin and Weaire-Phelan unitcell models were compared to each other in [22]. With the development of the finite element technique, attempts to try and predict properties of metal foams were discussed, based on different modelling techniques [23,24].…”

Simulating the Impact of Glassy Carbon Foam Electrodes on the Performance of Sodium Iodine Batteries

“…Studies of the mechanical properties and heat transfer in foams indicate negligible differences between the Kelvin cell and Weaire-Phelan cell models. 14,15 Therefore, the present work focuses on Kelvinʼs conjecture. The Kelvin cell is space-filling, and the foam unit cell results from subtracting a sphere from the Kelvin cell.…”