This work gives an overview of the production, properties and industrial applications of metal foams. First, it classifies the most relevant manufacturing routes and methods. Then, it reviews the most important properties, with special interest in the mechanical and functional aspects, but also taking into account costs and feasibility considerations. These properties are the motivation and basis of related applications. Finally, a summary of the most relevant applications showing a large number of actual examples is presented. Concluding, we can forecast a slow, but continuous growth of this industrial sector.

Commercial Applications of Metal Foams: Their Properties and Production

The nonlinear free vibration behavior of shear deformable sandwich porous beam is investigated in this paper within the context of Timoshenko beam theory. The proposed beam is composed of two face layers and a functionally graded porous core which contains internal pores following different porosity distributions. Two non-uniform functionally graded distributions are considered in this paper based on the equivalent beam mass, associated with a uniform distribution for purpose of comparison. The elastic moduli and mass density are assumed to vary along the thickness direction in terms of the coefficients of porosity and mass density, whose relationship is determined by employing the typical mechanical characteristic of an open-cell metal foam. The Ritz method and von Karman type nonlinear strain-displacement relationships are applied to derive the equation system, which governs the nonlinear vibration behavior of sandwich porous beams under hinged or clamped end supports. A direct iterative algorithm is then used to solve the governing equation system to predict the linear and nonlinear frequencies which are presented by a detailed numerical study to discuss the effects of porosity coefficient, slenderness ratio, thickness ratio and to compare the varying porosity distributions and boundary conditions, providing a feasible way to improve the vibration behavior of sandwich porous beams.

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Y. Girard

Papers

A numerical model for bird strike of aluminium foam-based sandwich panels