DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF AL-ALLOY FOAM BEAM DAMAGED BY COMPRESSIVE FATIGUE

The permanent residual strain in aluminum (Al) alloy foams induced by compressive fatigue gradually increases with the increasing number of loading cycles. Consequently, the progressive shortening of Al-alloy foam degrades the dynamic material performance by the failure and ratcheting of multi-cells in the foam. In this paper, the dynamic properties of Al-alloy foams damaged by compressive fatigue were studied. The beam specimens with various residual strains were made by cyclic compression-compression stress. The dynamic bending modulus and loss factor were evaluated by using a beam transfer function method. As a result, the dynamic bending stiffness of Al-alloy foam turned out to be decreased due to damage while the loss factor was improved because of the increasing energy dissipation of such factors as cracked cell walls formed during the shortening process of the foam. The loss factor shows a manifest dependence on the fatigue residual strain.