Effect of Fly Ash Particles on the Compressive Properties of Closed-Cell Aluminum Foams

The closed-cell aluminum foam reinforced by 1.5 and 3.0 wt.% fly ash particles were manufactured by molten body transitional foaming process. The backscattered electron image shows that fly ash particles distribute uniformly in the cell wall. The quasi-static compression tests were conducted. Results show that Al/Fly ash foams have stable compressive property and the sudden stress drop was not observed. The plateau stress increases nearly linearly with relative density. Moreover, the addition of fly ash particles improves the plateau stress. Also, the energy absorption property of Al/Fly ash foams increase with relative density and fly ash content. These can be attributed to the contribution of the compression of cell gas and the membrane stress in the cell wall.