Influences of Increased Pressure Foaming on the Cellular Structure and Compressive Properties of In Situ Al-4.5%Cu-xTiB₂ Composite Foams with Different Particle Fraction

Metallic foams have drawn increasing attention in applications ranging from lightweight structures to energy absorption devices. Mechanical properties of metallic foams depend on both their microstructure and cellular structure. In situ Al-4.5%Cu-xTiB₂ composites were used as start materials for fabrication of closed-cell foams through liquid route under atmosphere pressure and increased pressure, aiming at simultaneously strengthening the cell wall material and optimizing the cellular structure. Macro-structural features of the foams were determined by micro X-ray computed tomography (µCT); results exhibit that increasing weight ratio of in situ TiB₂ particles leads to coarsened cell structure for foams made under atmosphere pressure, due to the increase in critical thickness of cell wall rupture. Significant reduction of cell size and increase in cell circularity were observed for foams fabricated under increased pressure. Quasi static compression test results indicate that yield strength of foam samples increases with increasing particle fraction and refinement of cell structure. Microstructure observation shows that the continuous network at interdendritic regions consists of in situ TiB₂ particles and intermetallic compounds are responsible for the reduced ductility of cell wall materials and the reduction in energy absorption efficiency of foams with high particle fraction. The influences of cell structure on the normalized strength and specific energy absorption were also discussed, and it was found that the improvement of yield strength and energy absorption of composite foams attributes to both the reinforcement of in situ TiB₂ particles and the refinement of cellular structure.