On the stabilization mechanisms in liquid metallic foams

Metal foams are porous structures made up of conventional metals such as aluminium. Their advantageous density to stiffness ratio leads to a variety of applications especially in automotive industry, where they have gained interest as material used in shock absorbers and light weight construction parts. Solid metal foams are usually produced by solidification of a liquid metallic foam. The latter is generated by the introduction of gas into a melt analogous to aqueous foams. Depending on the parameters of the production process, porous structures with relative densities down to 10% of the original metal can be achieved. However, while the mechanisms leading to stable aqueous foams are quite well understood, this is not the case for metallic foams. In contrast for example to soap foams, no surface active or polar substances are present in liquid metals. It is merely known empirically that solid particles have a major influence on the stability of a liquid metallic foam. In this paper we present experimental observations showing that the stability and structure of metallic foams produced via a melt route are predominantly governed by interface rather than drainage effects. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The influence of porosity on the elastoplastic behavior of high performance cast alloys

Based on geometrical data of porous components obtained by computer tomography, a micromechanical unit cell model is proposed to predict the influence of porosity on mechanical properties of high performance cast alloys. Simulations of uniaxial loaded periodic unit cells are compared to experimental data of tensile tests on porous materials. In this way a relationship between some significant geometrical data of the pores and the macroscopic material parameters is obtained. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Experimental and numerical investigation of metal foams undergoing large deformations

Open cell aluminum metal foams are a new kind of material that are used in composite structures to reduce their weight, to increase their sound or energy absorption capability or to decrease their thermal conductivity. The design and analysis of such structures requires a macroscopic constitutive model of the foam that has to be determined by various experiments under different loading conditions. We support this procedure by analyzing the microstructure of the metal foam numerically under large deformations. To this end, we employ the finite cell method that can deal with large deformations and allows for an automatic and efficient discretization of the CT-image of the foam. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Experimental and numerical investigation of PUR foam under dynamic loading

Various factors may subject buildings to shock which continues in their structure and is perceived by the people living in them as noticeable vibrations or noise. In this context, polyurethane (PUR) foams, which have been developed to isolate vibrations, have shown to be very effective in practical use. However, whereas static properties of open-cell structures have already been determined numerically in good agreement to experimental results, cf. [1], there are hardly any investigations on the dynamical properties characterizing acoustic damping. In order to validate experimental measurements of eigenfrequencies for different PUR foam specimen we present here a strategy to reproduce the foam behavior numerically. In doing so, PUR foams are modeled using a three dimensional Voronoi-tessellation technique. The resulting Voronoi cells correspond to open pores and are scaled in such a way that the volume ratio between the pores and material matches the given PUR foam. For finite element analysis the connections between the cells are modeled as beam elements, the beam shape follows Bezièr curves. The generated model is analyzed with a finite element software and the dynamical parameters are determined. The numerical results are compared to our experimental data. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Transport of Mass,Momentum and Energy through Periodic Open Cell Metal Foams Applied in Catalysis

An ODE model to predict the temperature field of periodic open cell metal foams applied in catalysis as carrier structures is presented. The catalytic and highly endothermic reaction takes place in a porous layer which surround the struts of the foam and releases gas from a fluid. The one-dimensional model includes dependencies of the foam structure (strut radius, shape of strut), process conditions (surrounding velocity, surrounding fluid: liquid and/or gas), chemical conditions (reaction enthalpy, activation energy) and material parameters (thermal conductivity, density, viscosity). This makes it possible to estimate optimal parameters, that are able to provide sufficient heat to the reaction. The advantage of this model is the substantial time saving in contrary to three dimensional finite volume simulations. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Modelling and Simulation of the Transport of Protein Foams

The behaviour of foams at rest, but particularly during fluid mechanical transport is not sufficiently investigated yet. The present article deals with protein foams as they have a great importance in food production. In the first part, the foaming process of a highly viscous liquid due to gaseous materials dispersed under pressure in the liquid and mass transport of volatile components dissolved in the liquid is considered. The aim is to calculate the foam volume and the concentration of the dissolved, volatile components as a function of the material and process parameters. In the second part, material equations for bubble suspensions with gas volume fractions ϕ ≤ 0.6 and small bubble deformations (i.e. N_Ca ≪ 1) are presented. The basics form two constitutive laws which are used for describing a steady shear flow. If the rates of work of the two models are compared, material equations for the shear viscosity and the normal stress differences can be derived. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Study of Heat Flow through Highly Porous Heat Insulators

A comprehensive study is done to model flow of heat through heat insulators based on materials with high gas content such as solidified foams (e.g., eXtruded PolyStyrene foams, Expanded PolyStyrene foam), cellular glass, etc. The actual internal cell-like structure of such an insulator is replicated by regularly shaped gas pockets, which are separated from each other by thin rims of solid materials. The first model focuses on heat flow across the insulator caused by conduction and convection. Subsequently, the effect of radiation is also studied. Several numerical results are presented and computational results are compared with experimentally measured data.     

Model of Deformation of Monotropic Plastic Foams Parallel to the Foam Rise Direction Based on the Volume-Deformation Hypothesis

The deformation properties of monotropic plastic foams under uniaxial deformation (compression or tension) parallel to the foam rise direction is considered. The theoretical results are obtained in the case where the volume-deformation hypothesis is assumed. The validity of neglecting the fluctuation component in calculations of the effective volume strains of foams is substantiated. A tie condition permitting the sought-for semiaxes to vary not obligatorily equally is derived. The values of Young's modulus and Poisson coefficients are obtained for a wide range of model cell stretch ratios and foam space-filling coefficients. A comparison of the theoretical results with the experimental data available is performed.     

Experimental Investigations on Polymeric Foams

The knowledge of the material behaviour of polymeric foams and their experimental investigation is the starting point for the structure of the chosen constitutive equations and for the following identification of the material constants therein. Especially for the parameter identification, it is necessary to make an adequate set of experimental data available. In this regard, it is important that the experiments make the different kinds of material behaviour visible like elastic, plastic or viscous material properties. For this reason, the foam is observed under uniaxial tension and compression and under simple shear tests combined with different deformation states in axial direction. Unfortunately, due to different reasons, e.g., the foam must be sticked on the fastener to realize the tests mentioned above, it is very difficult to initialize a homogenous deformation state in the specimen. Therefore, the experiments are recorded with a standard digital camcorder to get local information of the deformation state by tracking single points with algorithms of the digital image processing. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Thermo-mechanical modelling of cellular ceramic composites by a multiphase approach of porous media

Refractory materials have a wide range of applications in the steel-making industry for example as lining of furnaces, oxygen converters or for ladles. Often, magnesia carbon bricks (MgO-C) are used. These are made of a periclase phase (MgO) with carbon inclusions and pores. In their applications, refractories are subjected to thermal and mechanical loads causing damage. The thermo-mechanical behaviour of MgO-C composites and hence their thermal stability could be improved significantly using cellular MgO-C composites based on carbon foams [1, 2]. The present contribution focuses on the development of a fully coupled phenomenological thermo-mechanical continuum model based on the theory of porous media (TPM) with a new kinematic coupling of the displacement field of all constituents. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Microstructural Model of a Closed-Cell Foam on the Basis of Image Analysis

The focus of this work is the identification of a unit cell that is able to represent the microstructure of a closed-cell solid foam to predict the effective behaviour of the foam numerically. For the investigation, a finite element model consisting of a repeating unit cell with periodical boundary conditions is implemented. A tetrakaidecahedral foam microstructure is considered as simplified cell geometry, and a strain-energy based homogenisation concept is utilized. On the basis of image analysis imperfections are applied to the cell. The obtained model is used as a representative volume element (RVE) for further investigations of the postbuckling behaviour of the foams. Different analyses are performed and the results are compared to literature and experimental data. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Elastic constants of monotropic plastic foams. 1. Deformation parallel to foam rise direction. A mathematical model

A mathematical model of the deformative properties and structure of lightweight, monotropic (or isotropic in the limiting case) plastic foams with a pronounced strut-like structure has been elaborated in the linear theory of deformation. A selection of five independent elastic constants is described. For the integral characterization of the deformative properties of plastic foams as micrononhomogeneous composite materials, the elastic constants are introduced as the effective constants. In order to describe the plastic foam structure, a local model consisting of two parts is proposed, i.e., a model of a continuous medium for the calculation of stresses and a local structure model. Considering deformation parallel to the foam rise direction when the semiaxes hypothesis is assumed, the Young modulus and Poisson's ratio are determined.Institute of Polymer Mechanics. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 719–733, November–December, 1997.     

Thermo-mechanically coupled modelling of cellular MgO-C refractories under thermal shock

Refractory materials such as magnesium oxide carbon (MgO-C) composites are used in the steel-making industry for furnaces, ladles or oxygen converters. A new class of composites are cellular MgO-C materials, consisting of carbon foams filled with magnesium oxide and inclusions of gas filled pores. Cellular MgO-C composites have the advantage of significantly improving the thermo-mechanical properties [1]. This contribution focuses on the FEM implementation of a fully coupled thermo-mechanical continuum model. It is based on the theory of porous media (TPM) restricted by a kinematic coupling of the displacement field of all constituents. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Deformation and Damaging of Composites with Transversally-isotropic Components under Compressive Loading

In the present paper, the problem of deformation and damage of composites with a porous isotropic matrix and transversally-isotropic unidirectional fibers under compressive loading is considered when microdamages are accumulated in the fiber. Fractured micro-volumes are modelled by a system of randomly distributed quasi spherical pores. The Shleicher-Nadai fracture criterion is used as a condition for the origin of micro-pores (micro-damage) based on the assumption of a rigid material. The limit value of the strength of the material is assumed as a stochastic function of coordinates. By using a numerical procedure, the solution of the above problem is found. The nonlinear stress-strain diagrams for a transversally-isotropic composite are obtained for the case of uniaxial compression-tension along the fibers. The nonlinearity of the deformations of the composite is caused by accumulation of micro-damages in the matrix. The influence of the physical-mechanical properties of materials, of the volume concentration, of the porosity of components, of the geometrical parameters of the structure, and of the character of the scatter of the strength in the material on the micro-damage of the material and, as a consequence, the influence on the macro-stress-macro-strain diagram is analyzed. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Numerical analysis of Ni/Al hybrid metal foams using the finite cell method

Aluminium metal foams are a new type of material that can be used in many lightweight applications. One method to improve their mechanical properties is to coat them with a thin layer of nickel by electrodeposition. A voxel representation of this hybrid foam can be obtained in a straightforward way using a CT scanner. The voxel-based geometry can then be processed and modified with respect to the thickness of the nickel layer in order to investigate its influence on the effective properties. By employing the finite cell method (FCM) we are able to automatically convert the voxel-based geometry into a finite cell grid and to directly perform a homogenization procedure. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Dynamic stability of a porous cylindrical shell

This paper is devoted to a closed cylindrical shell made of a porous-cellular material. The mechanical properties vary continuously on the thickness of a shell. The mechanical model of porosity is as described as presented by Magnucki, Stasiewicz. A shell is simply supported on edges. On the ground of assumed displacement functions the deformation of shell is defined. The displacement field of any cross section and linear geometrical and physical relationships are assumed in cylindrical coordinate system. The components of deformation and stress state were found. Using the Hamilton's principle the system of differential equations of dynamic stability is obtained. The forms of unknown functions are assumed and the system of a differential equations is reduced to a simple ordinary equation of dynamic stability of shell (Mathieu's equation). The derived equation are used for solving a problem of dynamic stability of porous-cellular shell with intensity of load directed in generators of shell. The critical loads are derived for a family of porous shells. The unstable space of family porous shells is found. The influence a coefficient of porosity on the stability regions in Figures is presented. The results obtained for porous shell are compared to a homogeneous isotropic cylindrical shell. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Estimation of large domain Al foam permeability by Finite Difference methods

Classical methods to calculate permeability of porous media have been proposed mainly for high density (e.g. granular) materials. These methods present shortcomings in high porosity, i.e. high permeability media (e.g. metallic foams). While for dense materials permeability seems to be a function of bulk properties and occupancy averaged over the volume, for highly porous materials these parameters fail to predict it. Several authors have attacked the problem by solving the Navier-Stokes equations for the pressure and velocity of a liquid flowing through a small domain (Ω_s) of aluminium foam and by comparing the numerical results with experimental values (prediction error approx. 9%). In this article, we present calculations for much larger domains (Ω_L) using the Finite Difference (FD) method, solving also for the pressure and velocity of a viscous liquid flowing through the Packed Spheres scenario. The ratio Vol(Ω_L)/Vol(Ω_s) is around 10³. The comparison of our results with the Packed Spheres example yields a prediction error of 5% for the intrinsic permeability. Additionally, numerical permeability calculations have been performed for Al foam samples. Our geometric modelling of the porous domain stems from 3D X-ray tomography, yielding voxel information, which is particularly appropriate for FD. Ongoing work concerns the reduction in computing times of the FD method, consideration of other materials and fluids, and comparison with experimental data. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of the cellular structure on thermal conductivity of rigid closed-cell foam polymers during long-term aging

The thermal conductivity of rigid closed-cell polyurethane foams during long-term aging has been studied. The similarity between the kinetics of changes in the physical and mechanical characteristics of PU foams on progressive aging is established, which is attributed to the effect of matrix destruction. It is found that rigid foams have cell walls of various strength, whose impact on the kinetics of changes in the physical characteristics of the foams during long-term aging is ascertained. The results of predicting the thermal conductivity of PU foams by the method of temperature-time analogy and establishing the limits of its application are discussed. The research presented is of interest both in determining the foam durability and in replacing freons by alternative, ecologically less harmful blowing agents.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 187–198, March–April, 1999.     

Elastic constants of monotropic plastic foams. 3. Deformation parallel to foam rise direction. Analysis of the results

Based on an elaborate mathematical model shaped like an ellipsoidal cell, the Poisson's ratio v ₃₁ ^* and Young's modulusE ₃ ^* are calculated for monotropic (isotropic in the limiting case) plastic foams when loading parallel to the foam rise direction is considered and the hypothesis of half-axis is assumed. The effect of the state of the strut system on the calculation results is studied. The dependence of the calculated elastic constants on the characteristics of plastic foams such as the space filling coefficient, degree of anisotropy and knot parameter is analyzed. The theoretical results are compared with the experimental results as well as the results of other authors.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, University of Latvia, 23 Aizkraukles St., Riga, LV-1006, Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 823–838, November–December, 1998.     

Physicomechanical Characteristics of Spray-On Rigid Polyurethane Foams at Normal and Low Temperatures

The effect of processing factors on the inhomogeneity and physicomechanical characteristics of spray-on polyurethane foams is studied. The dependences of the basic characteristics of foam plastics on the apparent density and cell-shape factor are determined. A method is offered for evaluating the effect of the technological surface skin on the tensile characteristics of foam plastics under normal and low temperatures.