Manufacturing and compressive properties of sandwich foam tubes containing metal syntactic foam

Abstract

This paper is concerned with sandwich foam tubes (SFTs), a recent type of sandwich structure containing metal syntactic foam (MSF). To create these structures, MSF is cast between thin-walled aluminium tubes in a single-step counter-gravity infiltration casting technique. Their mechanical properties and deformation mechanism are studied using quasi-static compression tests. For comparison, uniform MSFs and foam filled tube (FFT) structures are manufactured and tested alongside the SFTs. The deformation of the SFTs and FFTs is controlled by the symmetrical buckling of the tubes. A significant interaction effect between MSF and tubes is observed, i.e. the compressive strength of these structures exceeds the sum of their constituents. As a result, the specific energy absorption of the SFTs and FFTs increased compared with MSF samples.