Dynamic response and residual compressive characteristics of syntactic foams at high and low temperatures

Abstract

The dynamic response at low and high temperatures and compression after impact of aluminum matrix syntactic foams were studied. There were many cracks in syntactic foams after dynamic compression. The failure behaviors of compression after impact were almost identical to those of quasi-static compression in the late plateau stage and densification stage. The dynamic compressive properties of syntactic foams are greatly affected by the hollow sphere size at low strain rate, but this phenomenon is not remarkable at medium and high strain rates. The compressive strength and plateau stress are insensitive to the strain rate, but the energy absorption increases when increasing the strain rate. The dynamic compressive properties of syntactic foams have low-temperature strengthening and high-temperature softening effects, but the latter no longer changes above 100 ℃. The residual energy absorption is high, which indicates syntactic foams have potential as energy absorbing materials after dynamic damage.