Graphene Reinforced Aluminum Foam for Automobile and Aerospace

The present research is addressed to compressive deformation behavior of Al composite foam and graphene reinforced aluminum foam under static as well as dynamic compressive loading condition over strain rates of 500/s-1276/s. The closed cell aluminum foam was manufactured using a liquid metallurgy route for a concentration of 0.5% Graphene. The high strain rate compressive behavior of hybrid foam (relative density: 0.23 to 0.29) has been studied using Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar test, the results of compressive tests show that plateau stress and energy absorption of Graphene Al foam are much higher than Al composite foam. Reinforcement of Graphene increases the plateau stress and energy absorption capability of foam by 1.25-2.4 times in static tests. This is mainly due to the presence of graphene which in turn strengthen the cell walls. It is found that plateau stress and energy absorption of hybrid foam have been increased as the strain rate increases over the full range of strain rates 500s¿1 to 2760s¿1. The plateau stress is seen sensitive to strain rate but insensitive to densification strain. It is also noted that plateau stress is insensitive to the relative density