An Effective Approach to Get Aluminum Foam Sandwich with High and Stable Interfacial Properties

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Interfacial mechanical properties are critical for sandwich structures.
• Defects at interfaces, especially in porous metal sandwich plates (PMSP), often lead to structural weakness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate mechanisms controlling the mechanical properties of nano-SiO2-reinforced aluminum foam sandwich (AFS) interfaces.
• To develop a strategy for superior and stable AFS interfaces.

Main Methods:

• Surface modification of AFS interfaces.
• Introduction of varying concentrations of nano-silica (SiO2) into the epoxy resin.
• Evaluation of interfacial strength and mechanical performance.

Main Results:

• Surface modification and nano-SiO2 content are key process variables for AFS interfacial strength.
• Silane coupling agent improved nano-SiO2 dispersion and interfacial strength.
• Optimal nano-SiO2 concentration of 0.4 wt% yielded maximum interfacial strength enhancement.
• Strength and energy absorption increased by 14.65% and 405.43%, respectively.
• Enhanced AFS exhibited stable performance and high repeatability.

Conclusions:

• Surface modification with silane coupling agents and controlled nano-SiO2 addition are effective strategies for improving AFS interfacial properties.
• The optimized AFS demonstrates significantly enhanced mechanical performance and reliability.