Compressive Response of Al Matrix Syntactic Foam Manufactured by Liquid Sintering

Al matrix syntactic foams, with ceramic microspheres embedded in an Al 6082 alloy matrix, were fabricated by a liquid sintering process. The densities of the as-fabricated foams increased from 1.54 to 1.87 g/cm3 with increasing volume fraction of Al from 0.4 to 0.7. The mechanical properties of the as-fabricated foams can be adjusted by changing volume fraction of the Al matrix. Uniaxial compression tests conducted on these foams showed that the collapse strengths increased from 34.6 to 70 MPa when the volume fraction of Al increased from 0.4 to 0.7. The higher the density the foam has, the less brittle fracture was displayed. A considerable amount of void was found to remain in the Al matrix after the sintering was completed. The void and the oxide in the Al matrix are believed to cause the brittle fracture of the foam in compression