On the gas pressure forming of aluminium foam sandwich panels: Experiments and numerical simulations

X-ray Radiography Inspection of Pores of Thin Aluminum Foam during Press Forming Immediately after Foaming

“…Furthermore, immediately after foaming the foamed precursor is soft enough for press forming with a lower force than that used in the general compression of aluminum foam at room temperature. Generally, pores collapse during the formation of aluminum foam [13][14][15], similarly to the one observed [16][17][18]. In contrast, the surface of the die can be transferred to the aluminum foam while retaining the pores by press forming immediately after foaming [10].…”

Three dimensional forming of compressed open-cell metallic foams at elevated temperatures

“…a) Mid-sectioned aluminum foam dome formed at a temperature of 723K and a pressure of 0.5 MPa, and b) thickness along dome profile for a 3 mm-thick compressed aluminum foam sheet (top) and a 2 mm-thick as-cast aluminum alloy AFS panel foam core. The data for the AFS panel foam core is obtained from [26]. …”

“…The value of thickness at the dome shoulder is 2.6 mm, which corresponds to a reduction in thickness of 20%, whereas the value of thickness at a distance of 30 mm from the apex is equal to the initial thickness of the foam sheet, indicating that no densification occurred in that region. In an earlier work, pneumatic bulge forming was applied to form 3 mm-thick aluminum alloy foam sandwich (AFS) panels containing 2 mm thick as-cast, uncompressed foam core [26]. For an AFS panel formed at a temperature of 723K and a pressure of 0.5 MPa, the thickness of the foam core (thickness of solid sheets subtracted from total thickness of the AFS panel) varied from a low value of 0.4 mm at the apex, to a high value of 1.1 mm at a distance of 36 mm from the from apex, as can be seen in the blue square scatter points in Figure 13(b).…”

“…In a recent study, pneumatic bulge forming was successfully applied to shape aluminum foam-cored sandwich panels into circular domes [26]. Although significant porosity was maintained in the foam core, considerable variation in thickness was observed along the formed dome profile, which was attributed to the high compressibility of the foam core.…”

Numerical Study on the Plastic Forming of Doubly Curved Surfaces of Aluminum Foam Sandwich Panel Using 3D Voronoi Model

“…Contorno et al [22] numerically investigated the bending process of AFSP using the sandwich model with a 2D equivalent foam core, and it can be found that AFSPs can be deformed through properly designed processes. In the work of Nassar et al [23], simulation results obtained using a planar axisymmetric finite element (FE) model and experimental observations demonstrated the possibility of applying gas pressure forming to shape AFSPs into 3D shells while maintaining considerable core porosity. Bucher et al [24] applied Kelvin and equivalent models to study the laser forming of sandwich panels with metal foam cores, and Kelvin sandwich models yielded better predictions of bending angles and the face sheet/core interaction than equivalent sandwich models.…”