Preparation of aluminum foam sandwich by rolling-bonding/powder metallurgy foaming technology

Aluminum foam sandwich was prepared by rolling-bonding/powder metallurgical foaming technology, and the effects of rolling on bond strength of face sheet/powders and powder density were studied. Moreover, the foaming agent, TiH2, was heat treated and a certain amount of Mg was added into powder in an attempt to understand how the stability and uniformity of foam was improved. The experimental results show that the foaming precursors with ideal quality were obtained by rolling-bonding process. When rolling reduction is 67%, the consistency of powders reach to 99.87%. Throughout consideration of the bonding of face sheet/core layer powders and deformation characteristic of powders, the optimum rolling reduction is 60%–70%. Cracks and drainage during foaming were inhibited by heat treatment of foaming agent TiH2 and the addition of a certain amount of Mg. The optimum heat treatment way of TiH2 is that heat preserving 1 hour at 450 °C; the amount of adding Mg is 1wt%.