Chacterization of CU tube filled with Al alloy foam by means of X-ray computer tomography

Copper tubes filled with aluminium foams were prepared by directly foaming metal powder compacts inside them. Compressive behaviour and foam-shell interface, that characterizes mechanical properties of reinforced tubes, were investigated by means of variable focus X-ray computer tomography. Compression tests were performed on empty and filled samples at increasing deformation steps: at each stage the samples were observed by tomography. A geometric evaluation of porosity on 2D sections was performed by calculating, for each pore, its area, equivalent diameter and circularity