Abstract
The foamed aluminium panels and sandwiches with aluminium foam core can be potentially used in automotive industry, especially for lightweight stiff body structures of vehicles. In this case very high stiffness-to-weight ratio of these panels could be beneficial. In distinction to standard sandwiches foamed panels can be shaped and manufactured at lower costs. The fracture resistance but also damage tolerance and energy absorption capacity of panels can be significantly improved by reinforcing with metallic wires or nets like concrete with only little weight increase (about 20% for 15 mm panel thickness). Usually, it is sufficient to reinforce only the tensile loaded surface of foamed panel. The liquid foam adheres to the solid material in the course of expansion, forming a diffusion bond. This type of bonding provides a certain formability of the panels and results in a significant improvement of the mechanical properties and the thermal stability in comparison with glued or brazed sandwiches. One of the attractions of this process is that the reinforced panels or sandwiches are prepared in one technological operation what significantly reduces manufacturing costs.