ACTA MECHANICA SlNICA (English Series), Vo1.18, No.

5, October 2002
The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Chinese Journal of Mechanics Press, Beijing, China
Allerton Press, INC., New York, U.S.A.
ISSN 0567-7718
ULTRALI GHT POROUS METALS: FROM FUNDAMENTALS
TO APPLI CATI ONS *
Lu T i a n j i a n ( ~ )
(Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge,
Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK)
AB S T R AC T : Over t he pas t few year s a number of low cost met al l i c f oams have
been pr oduced and used as t he core of sandwi ch panel s a nd net s haped par t s . The
ma i n ai m is t o devel op l i ght wei ght s t r uct ur es whi ch ar e stiff, st r ong, a b l e t o abs or b
l ar ge amount of ener gy and cheap for appl i cat i on in t he t r a ns por t and cons t r uct i on
i ndust r i es. For exampl e, t he firewall bet ween t he engi ne a nd passenger c ompa r t me nt
of an aut omobi l e mus t have adequat e mechani cal s t r engt h, good ener gy a nd sound
abs or bi ng pr oper t i es , and adequat e fire r et ar dance. Met al f oams pr ovi de al l of t hese
f eat ur es, and axe under seri ous cons i der at i on for t hi s appl i cat i ons by a number of au-
t omobi l e manuf act ur er s (e.g., BMW a nd Audi ) . Addi t i ona l speci al i zed appl i cat i ons
for f oam- cor ed sandwi ch panel s r ange f r om heat si nks for el ect r oni c devi ces t o cr ash
bar r i er s for aut omobi l es, f r om t he cons t r uct i on panel s in l i ft s on ai r cr af t car r i er s t o
t he l uggage cont ai ner s of ai r cr af t , f r om sound proofi ng wal l s al ong r ai l way t r acks and
hi ghways t o acoust i c abs or ber s i n l ean pr emi xed combus t i on chamber s. But t her e
is a pr obl em. Before met al l i c foams can fi nd a wi des pr ead appl i cat i on, t hei r basi c
pr ope r t i e s must be measur ed, and i deal l y model ed as a f unct i on of mi c r os t r uc t ur a l
det ai l s, i n or der t o be i ncl uded i n a desi gn. Thi s wor k ai ms at r evi ewi ng t he r ecent
pr ogr ess and pr esent i ng some new r esul t s on f undament al r esear ch r egar di ng t he mi -
cr omechani cal or i gi ns of t he mechani cal , t her mal , and acoust i c pr oper t i es of met al l i c
foams.
KE Y WOR DS : me t a l foams, yi el di ng, heat t r ansf er , s ound absor pt i on, cons t i t ut i ve
model i ng
1 I NT R ODUC T I ON
Th e r e ha s b e e n a s t e a d y p r o g r e s s i n u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e me c h a n i c s of c e l l ul a r ma t e r i -
al s over t h e p a s t d e c a d e , wi t h mu c h of t h e r e s e a r c h p i v o t i n g a r o u n d t h e s t u d i e s of As h b y
a n d Gi b s o n [1]. Pr e v i o u s wo r k ha s f oc us e d on p o l y me r i c f oa ms , whi c h a r e wi d e l y us e d i n
p a c k a g i n g , i n s u l a t i o n a n d as t h e cor e of s a n d wi c h p a n e l s i n a e r o s p a c e a n d i n s hi p c ons t r uc -
t i on. I t h a s b e e n d e mo n s t r a t e d t h a t t h e me c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s ( s uch as s t i f f nes s , s t r e n g t h
a n d t o u g h n e s s ) a n d t h e t h e r ma l p r o p e r t i e s ( s uch as t h e r ma l c o n d u c t i v i t y ) d e p e n d p r i ma r i l y
Received 28 May 2002
* The project support ed by t he U.S. Oifice of Naval Research ( ONR/ ONRI FO grant number
N000140110271), t he U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSB.C grant number
EJA/ U83), and t he Chinese St at e Key Lab. Foundation of Xi ' an Jiaotong University
458 ACTA MECHANICA S I N I C A (English Series) 2002
upon t he relative densi t y of t he foam and, of course, on t he mat er i al of which i t is made;
simple mi cromechani cal models have been formul at ed t o est i mat e t hese properties from t he
underl yi ng mi crost ruct ure. Recently, a range of closed cell met al foams have been manufac-
t ur ed by ALCAN (now licensed t o Cymat in Canada) , Hydro Al umi num in Norway (now
owned by Cymat ) , Shinko Wi re in J apan ( t r adename ' Al poras' ), Mepura-Slovakia in Aus-
t r i a ( t r adename ' Al ul i ght ' ) in addi t i on t o t he open-celled foams pr oduced by ERG in USA
( t r adename ' Duocel' ) and Porvair in USA. Several of t he engineering properties of metallic
foams are superior t o t hose of pol ymeri c foams: t hey are stiffer by an order of magni t ude
(Young' s modul us for al umi num E = 70 GPa, as compared wi t h E of about 1~10 GPa for
engineering pol ymers), t hey have a higher mel t i ng t emper at ur e (eutectic t emper at ur e for
A1-Si is 557~ as compared wi t h a soft eni ng t emper at ur e below 200~ for t hemopl ast i cs such
as PVC and HDPE) , t hey dissipate heat efficiently when subj ect ed t o convection (thermM
conduct i vi t y for al umi num is k = 200W/ ( m. K) , as compared wi t h k -- (0.1 ~ 1) W/ ( m. K)
for pol ymers), t hey possess superi or fire resistance and do not involve toxic fumes in a fire.
At t he mi crost ruct urM level, met al l i c foams are dr amat i cal l y different from polymeric
foams: pol ymeri c foams generally have a regular mi crost ruct ure, whereas metallic foams are
hi ghl y disordered wi t h a wide dispersion of cell size and cell shape. It is t hought t hat t hi s
disorder markedl y degrades t he stiffness and st r engt h of metallic foams, and disproportion-
at el y reduces t he hydr ost at i c st r engt h as compared wi t h t he devi at ori c st rengt h, al t eri ng
t he shape of t he yield surface in effective stress versus mean stress space[2]; on t he ot her
hand, t he i mperfect i ons will endow t he metallic foam wi t h t he beneficial pr oper t y t hat t he
peak st r engt h in a dynami c t est is not raised as compared wi t h t he st at i c st r engt h unt i l
hydr odynami c effects set in at i mpact velocities of about 100 m/ s [3] . The objective of this
paper is t o review t he present under st andi ng of t he t hermo-mechani cal -acoust i cal properties
of met al foams and t o develop t he rel at i onshi p bet ween t hem and mi crost ruct ure, including
processing i nduced defects or disorder. The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, t he
effects of various manuf act ur i ng i nduced morphological imperfections on t he mechanical and
t her mal propert i es of closed- as well as open-cell met al foams are presented. A phenomeno-
logical model for plastic yielding is present ed in Section 3 for met al foams wi t h and wi t hout
geomet ri cal imperfections. Section 4 is devot ed t o t he crack growt h resistance and not ch
sensi t i vi t y of met al foams. In Section 5, t he pot ent i al of open-celled met al foams as com-
pact heat exchangers is explored, wiiilst t he appl i cat i on of met al foams as sound absorbers
is reviewed in Section 6.
2 EF F ECTS OF GEOMETRI C I MP ERF ECTI ONS
2. 1 Yi e l d i n g
Idealized foams such as t he hexagonal honeycomb are known t o possess a hi gh rat i o of
hydr ost at i c st r engt h t o deviatoric st rengt h: under hydr ost at i c l oadi ng t hei r cell walls deform
by st ret chi ng whereas under devi at ori c loading t hey yield at lower stress levels by cell wall
bendi ng [1]. Exper i ment al measurement s on most commerci al l y available foams reveal t hat
t hei r devaitoric st r engt h is degraded by an order of magni t ude and t hei r hydrost at i c st r engt h
is comparabl e t o t hei r devi at ori c st r engt h [4~6]. Thi s knock-down i n yi el d st r engt h has been
at t r i but ed t o various process i nduced morphological defects such as wavy cell walls, missing
cells, non-uni form wall thickness, cell wall mi sal i gnment s, broken cell walls, and a r andom
dispersion of cell size (Fi g. l ). To under st and how t he yield st r engt h of a metallic foam havi ng
Vo1.18, No.5 Lu Tianjian: Ultralight Porous Metals 459
(a) Waviness
[
(c) Fractured cell walls
(e) Voronoi structure
(b) Non-uniform wall thickness
(d) Cell-wall misalignments
(f) Miss cells
Fig.1 Six different types of geometric imperfection
ei t her closed or open cells is weakened by t he presence of t hese morphol ogi cal defect s and
whet her t hi s involves a change of yi el di ng mechani sm f r om cell-wall st r et chi ng t o cell-wall
bendi ng under hydr ost at i c loading, an anal yt i cal as well as numeri cal s t udy on t he bi axi al
yi el d response of t wo-di mensi onal met al l i c foams weakened by various morphol ogi cal defect s
has been carri ed out[ 2].
By using a uni t cell model for peri odi c hexagonal honeycombs, t he effects of peri odi c
i mper f ect i ons- - cel l wal l waviness and non- uni f or m wall t hi ckness- - i n al t eri ng t he shape and
4 6 0 A C T A M E C H A N I C A S I N I C A ( E n g l i s h Ser i es) 2002
size of t he yi el d surface can be exami ned anal yt i cal l y. I t is f ound t h a t wavy i mper f ect i ons
r educe si gni fi cant l y t he hydr os t at i c yi el d s t r engt h but have onl y a mi ni mal influence on
t he devi at or i c st r engt h; non- uni f or m wall t hi ckness, on t he ot her hand, reduces sl i ght l y t he
hydr os t at i c yi el d s t r engt h and i ncreases sl i ght l y t he devi at or i c st r engt h[ 2].
Ra ndom i mper f ect i ons, in t he f or m of cell-size vari at i ons, f r act ur ed cell walls, cell-wall
mi sal i gnment s, and mi ssi ng cells, can be addr essed by usi ng t he fi ni t e el ement met hod. Cell-
wal l mi sal i gnment s are f ound t o i nduce cell wal l bendi ng under hydr os t at i c l oadi ng and l ead
t o a l arge r educt i on of hydr os t at i c s t r engt h [2] . Si mi l arl y, t he r emoval of a smal l numbe r of cell
walls coul d l ead t o cell wal l bendi ng and t o pr onounced weakeni ng. A r a ndom di st r i but i on
of cell size (~ and F Voronoi st r uct ur es) can l ead t o a r educt i on of hydr os t at i c yi el d s t r engt h
by a f act or of 2 t o 3 in compar i s on wi t h t ha t of a perfect honeycomb, but t hi s t ype of
i mper f ect i on is not sufficiently di sper sed in cell size t o swi t ch t he def or mat i on r esponse
f r om cell wal l st r et chi ng t o cell wal l bendi ng under hydr os t at i c l oadi ng. Consequent l y, t he
hydr os t at i c s t r engt h of t he Voronoi model s scales l i nearl y wi t h t he rel at i ve densi t y whereas
t hei r devi at or i c s t r engt h scales quadr at i cal l y wi t h t he rel at i ve densi t y. The yi el d surface of
r a ndom 2D foams, when pr oj ect ed ont o a space of equi val ent devi at or i c st ress and mean
st ress, is much less el ongat ed t h a n t ha t of r egul ar honeycombs.
Chen et al. [2] f ound t ha t f r act ur ed cell edges pr oduce t he l ar gest knock- down in yield
s t r engt h of 2D foams, followed in or der by mi ssi ng cells, wavy cell edges, cell edge mi sal i gn-
ment s, i n Voronoi cells, 6 Voronoi cells, and non- uni f or m wal l t hi ckness. The near l y ci rcul ar
yi el d surfaces pr edi ct ed for honeycombs wi t h ei t her f r act ur ed cell edges or cell-edge mi sal i gn-
ment s when pl ot t ed in combi ned devi at or i c and me a n st ress space (Fig. 2) are conf i r med by
exper i ment al obser vat i ons by Des hpande and Fl eck [6].
0.030 . . . . , . . . . , . . . . , . . . . , . . . . , . . . .
1 perfect honeycomb
2 /~ Voronoi model
3 honeycomb with ~=0. 4
4 /~ Vor onoi wi t h 5% f r ac t ur ed cell edges
0.015
_~- - - - - 1
, . . . 2 . " " . . . . . . . . . " [ . 3 U
o
--0.03 - 0. 02 --0.01 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03
drrn/O'y
Fig.2 Typical elliptical yield surfaces of F di st ri but ed Voronoi st ruct ures with and with-
out fractured cell edges (5%) and perfect honeycombs with and without cell-edge
misalignments (c~ = 0.4). The relative density of the foams is fixed at p = 0.15
The sensi t i vi t y of t he stiffness and s t r engt h of 2D f oams ( honeycombs) t o t he presence
of inclusions and holes is anal ys ed by Chen et al. [7] wi t h t he finite el ement met hod. For
b o t h per f ect and i mper f ect honeycombs, ri gi d i ncl usi ons are f ound t o have onl y a smal l
effect on t he stiffness and s t r engt h. I t is concl uded t ha t t he mai n effect of ri gi d inclusions
in met al l i c f oams is t o i ncrease ma s s , and t her eby t o r educe t he specific pr oper t i es. For
i ni t i al l y per f ect honeycombs, t he presence of holes causes a s ubs t ant i al knock- down in t he
Voi . 18, No. 5 Lu Tianjian: Ul t r al i ght Porous Metals 461
bul k modul us and hydr ost at i c yi el d st r engt h due t o i nduced cell-wall bendi ng. The stiffness
and st r engt h depend upon bot h t he vol ume f r act i on of holes and upon t he rel at i ve densi t y
of t he honeycomb; t he size effect of holes is negligible if t he hol e size rel at i ve t o t he cell
size exceeds 20. For i mperfect honeycombs cont ai ni ng a small number fract i on of r andoml y
br oken cell walls, t he knock-down in stiffness due t o t he presence of holes can be est i mat ed
by assumi ng t hat t he mai n effect of t he holes is t o reduce t he overall rel at i ve densi t y of t he
honeycomb. On t he ot her hand, t he knock-down in st r engt h is consi st ent wi t h a net section
st r engt h cri t eri on. Bot h Hashi n- Sht r i kman bounds and self-consistent est i mat es are f ound
t o descri be closely t he elastic modul i of perfect and i mperfect honeycombs cont ai ni ng ei t her
rigid inclusions or holes. These resul t s can be used t o gui de t he processing of commerci al
foams wi t h i mproved pr oper t i es, and t o est i mat e t he resi dual stiffness and st r engt h of as-
recei ved foams cont ai ni ng open holes or r edundancy inclusions.
2. 2 Ef f ect i ve The r ma l Conduc t i vi t y
The effective t her mal conduct i vi t y k of a low densi t y met al foam due t o conduct i ve as
well as r adi at i ve heat t r ansf er is given by Is]
]g = k c "~- ]gr ---- C p k s ~ - ~ c o ' T 3 1 ( 1 )
where kc and kr are t he appar ent foam t her mal conduct i vi t y due t o solid conduct i on and
r adi at i on, respectively, p is t he rel at i ve densi t y (defined as t he r at i o of t he densi t y of t he
f oam t o t ha t of t he solid of whi ch t he foam is made) , ks is t he solid conduct i vi t y, ~ is t he
efficiency coefficient t hat account s for t he t or t uous shape of t he cell walls, e is t he emissivity
of t he cell-wall surface, l is t he cell size, ~r is t he St ef an- Bol t zmann const ant , Tm is t he mean
t emper at ur e of t he foam, and ~ is a dimensionless par amet er . The cont r i but i on of gaseous
conduct i on t o k is negligible for met al foams, and so is t he effect of nat ur al convect i on wi t hi n
t he ceils as t he cell size in most commerci al met al foams is less t han 10 ram.
For simple cell morphol ogi es, t he coefficient ~ can be det er mi ned anal yt i cal l y. For
2D foams, ~ t akes a value of 1/ 2 for bot h regul ar hexagonal and square ceils, 0.433 for / '
di st r i but ed Voronoi cells, and 0.477 for 5 di st r i but ed Voronoi cells Is] . As in t he case of plastic
yielding, t he effects of peri odi c and r andom geomet r i cal i mperfect i ons as shown in Fig.1 on
k can be st udi ed by using anal yt i cal and finite el ement models. Cell-wall mi sal i gnment s
onl y have a rel at i vel y small knock-down effect on conduct i vi t y, as k/ko = 0.88 even when
t he mi sal i gnment is large. Here, k0 = (1/2)pks is t he reference conduct i vi t y of a regul ar
honeycomb in t he absence of defects. Randoml y di st r i but ed br oken cell walls, on t he ot her
hands, have a large effect on k. Wi t h fb denot i ng t he number f r act i on of br oken cell wails,
it is found t hat
k/ko = 1 - ( 10/ 3) f b (2)
where fb < 0.15 is requi red.
3 CONS T I T UT I VE MODE L L I NG
Under stressing, met al l i c foams are t ypi cal l y elastic-plastic and exhi bi t st r ong depen-
dence upon hydr ost at i c pressure. Using a mechani sm-based mi cromehani cs model for open-
ceUed rigid pol ymer i c foams, Gi bson et al. [9] deri ved a yield surface
462 ACTA MECHANI CA SI NI CA (English Series) 2002
where ae and (:Jr m are, respectively, t he Mises effective stress and mean stress, as is t he yield
stress of t he cell wall mat eri al , and A is a mat er i al const ant t o be det er mi ned f r om uni axi al
loading. For most met al l i c foams, however, because of t he compl i cat ed failure mechani sms
associ at ed wi t h t he i rregul ar and i mper f ect i on- pr one mi cr ost r uct ur es, it is difficult t o derive
user-fri endl y yi el d funct i ons f r om mi cromechani cs study. A phenomenol ogi cal appr oach
has t her ef or e been wi del y used t o f or mul at e const i t ut i ve model s for bot h pol ymer i c and
met al foams. For exampl e, t he anal yt i cal resul t s of Gi bson et al. axe fi t t ed by Puso and
Govi ndj ee [1~ wi t h a single elliptical yi el d surface whi ch is given, in t he Cre-am space, by
2 1 2 h 2
= 0 ( 4)
where R and h axe mat er i al par amet er s. Thi s model is ext ended by Zhang et al.[ 11] t o s t udy
t he yielding behavi or of pol ymer i c foams, wi t h an added par amet er t o define t he cent er of
t he yi el d locus, as
O- e 2 + [O' m- X0(~mp)] 2 < 1 (5)
b ( m p ) a ( m p ) - -
wh e r e Crop is t he pl ast i c vol umet r i c st rai n, and X0, a and b are mat er i al par amet er s t o be
det er mi ned f r om uni axi al compressi on, simple shear, and hydr ost at i c compressi on tests.
As compar ed wi t h rigid pol ymer i c foams, t he yielding of met al foams is compl i cat ed
due t o t he presence of various mor phol ogy i mperfect i ons as discussed in t he previ ous section.
Whi l st Eq. (3) suggests t ha t t he hydr ost at i c yi el d st r engt h of a per f ect foam is governed by
cell wall st r et chi ng and t hat its uni axi al yi el d st r engt h is domi nat ed by cell wall bendi ng,
a small degree of geomet ri c i mperfect i ons suffices t o i nduce cell wall bendi ng under all
macroscopi c stress st at es, r educi ng t he hydr ost at i c st r engt h t o t he same level as t he uni axi al
st r engt h. Based upon t he elliptical yield f unct i on (4), Deshpande and Fl eck [6] pr oposed
t wo phenomenol ogi cal const i t ut i ve model s for met al l i c foams: t he self-similax model and t he
differential har deni ng model. In t he first model, t he aspect r at i o R of t he ellipse is a mat er i al
const ant while h depends not onl y upon t he accumul at ed pl ast i c st r ai n but also upon t he
stress st at e and is char act er i zed by t he uni axi al and hydr ost at i c compressi ve st ress versus
st r ai n curves. The mor e compl i cat ed differential har deni ng model is devel oped t o capt ur e
t he exper i ment al l y observed evol ut i on of t he shape of t he yi el d surface in met al l i c foams.
Here, bot h R and h axe t aken as st r ai n and st ress st at es dependent , wi t h four mat er i al
par amet er s r equi r ed t o fully charact eri ze har deni ng. Al t hough an i mproved accur acy is
obt ai ned by usi ng t he differential har deni ng model , det ai l ed t est da t a on t he i ni t i al yield
surface and its evol ut i on must be pr ovi ded t o det er mi ne t he four mat er i al par amet er s.
A unified f r amewor k of const r uct i ng phenomenol ogi cal const i t ut i ve model s for a br oad
class of el ast i c-pl ast i c mat eri al s exhi bi t i ng ei t her pl ast i c i ncompressi bi l i t y (e.g., gr ey cast
iron) or pl ast i c compressi bi l i t y (e.g., met al foams) is est abl i shed r ecent l y by Chen and Lu [12].
Thi s const i t ut i ve framework also enabl es di fferent yi el di ng behavi or s under t ensi on and
compressi on as well as di fferent i al har deni ng al ong different l oadi ng pat hs t o be account ed
for in a rel at i vel y simple fashion. The resul t i ng pl ast i ci t y model does not requi re t he difficult
t ask of exper i ment al l y pr obi ng t he i ni t i al yi el d surface and its subsequent evol ut i on- - i t is
compl et el y det er mi ned f r om a set of as few as t wo di st i nct i ve st ress versus st r ai n curves
m e a s u r e d a l o n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c l o a d i n g p a t h s .
V o 1 . 1 8 , N o . 5 L u T i a n j i a n : U l t r a l i g h t P o r o u s M e t a l s 4 6 3
I n t h i s g e n e r a l f r a m e w o r k , a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t r e s s ~ a n d t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g w o r k c o n j u -
g a t e g , t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t r a i n , a r e i n t r o d u c e d a s
(
= ( ~ + / 3 2 . ~ ) ~ / 2 ~ = ~ + / 3 2 ) ( 0 )
w h e r e e ~ i s t h e M i s e s e f f e c t i v e s t r a i n , S v i s t h e v o l u m e t r i c s t r a i n , / 3 i s a p a r a m e t e r r e l a t e d
t o t h e P o i s s o n r a t i o o f t h e m a t e r i a l b y
[ 9 ( I - 2~,) 1 1 / 2
/ 3 = L T ( - ( I ~ - - ~ J ( 7 )
Not e t hat , wi t h t he i nt r oduct i on of ~ and g, t he elastic compl ement ar y energy, W, can be
separ at ed i nt o di st or t i onal and vol umet r i c par t s, as
w = _ 1 ( ~ + / 3 2 ~ m ) ( S)
2E
whe r e / ~ = 3E/ 2( 1 + v). A yi el d funct i on in t er ms of ~ and g is t hen pr oposed as
= ~ + c ( ~ ) , , ~ - y ( ~ ) = o ( 9 )
w h e r e C ( g ) a n d Y ( g ) a r e m a t e r i a l p r o p e r t i e s t o b e d e t e r m i n e d b y t w o c h a r a c t e r i s t i c t e s t s .
T h e o r e t i c a l l y , s t r e s s v e r s u s s t r a i n c u r v e s a l o n g a n y t w o d i s t i n c t i v e l o a d i n g p a t h s c a n b e
u s e d t o e v a l u a t e C ( ~ ) a n d Y ( g ) . I n o r d e r t o i n c r e a s e t h e p r e d i c a t i v e p o w e r o f t h e c o n s t i t u -
t i v e m o d e l , h o w e v e r , i t i s s u g g e s t e d t o f o l l o w c h a r a c t e r i s t i c l o a d i n g p a t h s ( e . g . , h y d r o s t a t i c
l o a d i n g t o g e t h e r w i t h s i m p l e s h e a r o r u n i a x i a l c o m p r e s s i o n ) . I t i s p r o p o s e d t o u s e ~ 5 i n
c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e a s s o c i a t e d f l o w r u l e t o g i v e t h e t o t a l s t r a i n r a t e a s
. O ~
~ i j = A O o . j (10)
where t he pr opor t i onal i t y f act or A is det er mi ned from t he consi st ence condi t i on of pl ast i ci t y
a s
0~---~j ~ j + 0 5 = 0 ( 1 1 )
Fr om t he measur ed stress versus st rai n curves under uni axi al compressi on and hydro-
st at i c compressi on, t he t wo mat er i al par amet er s C(~) and Y(g) can be easily det er mi ned
a s
d . 2 c - 2
- - O - u c
c ( g ) = ~ L / ( 9 + / 3 2 ) - ~ 2 / / 3 ~
~ c , ( 1 2 )
y ( g ) = - 2 - 2 1 / ( 9 + / 3 2 ) - 1 1 / 3 3 2
~ h c ~ ' . r ) ~ 2 / / 3 ~
hc/
where O ' h c is t he critical val ue of t he mean stress under hydr ost at i c compressi on whereas
qur is t he cri t i cal value of t he uni axi al stress under uni axi al compression. Toget her wi t h
t he associ at ed flow rul e (10) and consi st ence condi t i on (11), t he yield funct i on (9) can now
be used t o s t udy t he const i t ut i ve behavi ors of met al foams havi ng ei t her closed or open
cells. Stress versus st r ai n curves under several different pr opor t i onal l oadi ng pat hs are
r epor t ed in det ai l by Deshpande and Fleck [6] for a high densi t y closed cell al umi num foam
464 ACTA MECHANI CA SINICA (English Series) 2002
(Al poras f oam f r om Shinko Wi r e, J apan) and for a low densi t y open cell al umi num foam
(Duocel f oam f r om ERG, USA). Good agr eement bet ween t he model pr edi ct i ons and t he
exper i ment al measur ement s of Deshpande and Fl eck [6] was r epor t ed by Chen and Lu [12] . Lu
and Ong [13] used t he same model t o s t udy t he def or mat i on behavi or of t wo different t ypes
of al umi num alloy foam under uni axi al t ensi on, uni axi al compressi on, shear and hydr ost at i c
pressure, one wi t h closed cells processed vi a bat ch cast i ng and anot her wi t h semi -open
cells manuf act ur ed f r om negat i ve pressure i nfi l t rat i on. The pr edi ct i ons agree well wi t h t he
exper i ment al measur ement s unt i l cracki ng ( a nd hence soft eni ng) occurs in t he foams.
4 CRACK GROWT H RE S I S T ANCE
For br i t t l e elastic mat eri al s, t he i ni t i at i on of crack gr owt h is governed by Gri ffi t h' s
ener gy release r at e cri t eri on G = Gc , or, equivalently, by t he cri t i cal stress i nt ensi t y fact or
cri t eri on K = Kc . For duct i l e mat eri al s under even small-scale yi el di ng (SSY), however, it is
f ound t ha t t he critical ener gy release r at e Gc and t he f r act ur e t oughness Kc increases wi t h
crack ext ensi on (i.e., t he R- cur ve phenomenon) , due t o non- pr opor t i onal st ressi ng wi t hi n
t he pl ast i c zone at t he crack t i p. A cohesive zone model embedded in a yon Mises solid
was used by Tver gaar d and Hut chi nson [14] t o s t udy t he role of pl ast i ci t y in Mode I crack
i ni t i at i on and gr owt h under t he condi t i on of SSY in pl ane st rai n. The cohesive zone model
is specified t hr ough a crack bri dgi ng law, wi t h t he peak bri dgi ng stress (to and t he work
of separ at i on per uni t ar ea Fo as t he pr i mar y par amet er s. The cohesive zone model was
l at er ext ended t o s t udy t he effect of crack t i p const rai nt , i.e., t he T- st r ess effect, and i t
was shown t ha t t he model can capt ur e t he observed T- st r ess effect real i st i cal l y in a yon
Mises mat er i al [15]. These aut hor s concl ude t ha t t he cohesive zone model is a promi si ng
predi ct i ve t ool for non-l i near f r act ur e mechani cs analysis, and is equal l y appl i cabl e in SSY
and large-scale yielding si t uat i ons, for bot h s t at i onar y and growi ng cracks. Crack-bri dgi ng
concept s have been appl i ed by Suo et al. [16] t o cal cul at e t he del ami nat i on R-curves of fibre-
rei nforced cer ami c- mat r i x composi t es, and by Sout i s et al. [17] and Bao and Suo [ls] t o s t udy
t he t oughness, st r engt h and not ch- duct i l i t y of met al s, composi t es and, in fact , any mat er i al
whose f r act ur e process may be charact eri sed by a Dugdal e- t ype bri dgi ng law.
Recently, Chen et al. [19] used t he cohesive zone model t o predi ct t he crack growt h
i ni t i at i on and resi st ance curves of met al foams f r om pre-exi st i ng cracks and holes. The
l i near soft eni ng bri dgi ng is i nt r oduced t o model t he f r act ur e process, and a phenomenol ogi cal
appr oach is adopt ed: t he het er ogeneous met al l i c f oam is repl aced by a compressi bl e elastic-
pl ast i c power-l aw har deni ng solid, wi t h an i ndependent l y val i dat ed elliptical yi el d surface in
yon Mises stress versus mean stress space. In t hi s model , t he yi el d f unct i on 9 is assumed
t o be
= , ~ - Y = 0 0 3 )
where Y is t he uni axi al yi el d st r engt h and & is t he effective stress, defi ned by
62_ 1
1 + (c~/3) 2 (a2 + ~2a2m) (14)
Here, a defines t he aspect r at i o of t he elliptical yi el d surface i n t he von Mises stress ae
versus mean stress am space. Deshpande and Fl eck [6] show t ha t a is r el at ed t o t he pl ast i c
Vol.18, No.5
Poi sson' s r at i o u p by
Lu Tianjian: Ultralight Porous Metals 465
( 1 / ? _ 1 / 2
( 1 5 )
Consequent l y, i nst ead of t r aci ng t he shape of t he initial yield surface and its subsequent
evol ut i on f r om compl i cat ed mul t i -axi al tests, it is seen from Eq. (15) t hat t he yi el d surface
can be est i mat ed by si mpl y measuri ng t, p in a uni axi al t est . For Al poras foams of rel at i ve
densi t y fi ..~ 0.08, t he pl ast i c Poi sson' s r at i o is appr oxi mat el y zero and hence, from (15),
a .~ 2.12.
For met al foam speci mens cont ai ni ng ei t her a cent er-crack or an open hole subj ect ed t o
uni axi al t ensi on, Chen et al. [19] t hen carri ed out a finite el ement s t udy wi t h ABAQUS on t he
effects of mat er i al and geomet ri cal par amet er s on t hei r tensile st r engt hs and t he mechani sms
under l yi ng t he br i t t l e- duct i l e t r ansi t i on. In addi t i on, t he crack gr owt h resi st ance curve (R-
curve) for a semi-infinite crack in SSY has been det er mi ned t o r emove t he effect of speci men
geomet r y in t he long crack limit. The effect of yi el d surface shape (as par amet r i zed by
t he r at i o of devi at or i c st r engt h t o hydr ost at i c st r engt h, a) upon t he t ear i ng resi st ance is
first expl ored. In general, an increase in a f r om t he von Mises l i mi t a = 0 is found t o
l ead t o a l arger pl ast i c zone ahead of t he crack t i p and t o a hi gher crack gr owt h resistance.
The T- st r ess effect is significant onl y for near l y i ncompressi bl e solids (0 < a < 1), and
is negligible for t ypi cal met al l i c foams ( a = 1 ~,, 2). Consequent l y, it is expect ed t hat t he
measur ed t oughness of met al l i c foams will be less sensitive t o speci men geomet r y and l oadi ng
confi gurat i ons t han t hat of fully dense met al s.
Wi t h r egar d t o t he duct i l e- br i t t l e t r ansi t i on for a panel cont ai ni ng a cent er-crack, Chen
et al.[19] f ound t hat t he behavi or switches f r om not ch-i nsensi t i ve at short crack l engt h t o an
el ast i c-bri t t l e response at long crack length: t he t r ansi t i on crack size is a ,.m ( 1 / T r ) ( K s s / O - o ) 2,
where Kss is t he st eady st at e t oughness and a0 is t he peak bri dgi ng stress in t he crack-
bri dgi ng law. For t he case of a panel cont ai ni ng an open hole of di amet er D, t he f r act ur e
response switches wi t h increasing D from a net sect i on st r engt h cri t eri on O'ma xnet ~ o- 0 t o a
br i t t l e behavi our amaxlCr0net / = 1 / k , where k is t he stress concent r at i on factor. The t r ansi t i on
hol e size is given by D ,.~ ( 1 / r r ) ( K o / a o ) 2, where K0 = v / E F o / ( 1 - v 2) and F0 is t he work
of separ at i on per uni t area.
5 ME T AL F OAMS AS COMP ACT HE AT E XCHANGE RS
New mat er i al s are needed in t he devel opment of advanced, compact , and lightweight
t her mal syst ems t o sat i sfy new demands f r om emergi ng technologies, which i ncl ude multi-
f unct i onal fuel processors t hat demand t he capabi l i t y for si mul t aneous heat exchange and
chemi cal react i on, hi ghl y efficient r adi at or s for hi gh power heat r ej ect i on at low t emper at ur e
differentials, and hi gh-densi t y mi croel ect roni c ci rcui t s requi ri ng hi gh rat es of heat removal.
Significant advances in heat exchange are made wi t h t he use of advanced met al f oam st ruc-
t ur es t o manuf act ur e highly effective, el evat ed t emper at ur e- capabl e, geometry-flexible, and
mul t i - f unct i onal heat exchange devices. Several mechani sms have been f ound t o cofi t ri but e
t o heat t r ansf er enhancement s associ at ed wi t h t he use of met al f oam mat eri al s, including
i nt er act i ons bet ween t he solid f oam mat er i al and a t hrough-fl owi ng fluid [2~ and t he im-
por t ance of achi evi ng a qual i t y met al - t o- f oam bond [22a4]. Appl i cat i ons t o el ect roni cs cooling
and compact heat exchangers have been i nvest i gat ed, revealing pr omi si ng advances in t he
466 ACTA MECHANICA SINICA (English Series) 2002
rat e of heat removal or transfer under experimental conditions. So many applied researches
have been carried out, applying met al foam in unique designs in radiators and advanced
reactors[3].
Studies have been carried out to describe t hermal t ransport in metallic foams on a basic
and applied basis. Younis and Calmidi and Mahajan [22] studied the solid-to-fluid thermal
transport from a heated metal plate brazed to aluminum metal foam. Results indicate a
significant contribution of the thermal transport resulted from solid plate to foam contact,
and subsequent fluid-to-foam thermal transport. High quality joints are indicated as being
important to effective thermal transport. In a similar study, Kim et al. [25] examined metal
foam thermal transport between two isothermal plates. Aluminum foam filled the space
between the plates, which were heated with flowing water. Pressure drop friction factor and
a modified Colburn J-factor were measured, and comparisons were made with conventional
louvered fins for overall performance. Results indicate that the foam material offers better
heat transfer performance as compared to a louvered array, but at a greater pressure drop.
Lu et al. [21] developed a model describing metal foam-assisted heat transfer, where the
foam was modeled as inter-connected cylinders. The analysis was extended to electronics
cooling, and multi-layer heat exchangers with good performance predicted. Bastarows [24]
studied single side heating of a foam-filled channel for an electronics cooling application. The
experimental method utilized both conductive epoxy bonding and brazing of the metal foam
to a heated plates. Results indicate that brazed foam materials are much more effective for
heat removal than epoxy-bonded samples. Measured heat exchange performance indicates
3 times more heat removal capability as compared to a conventional fin-pin array.
5. 1 Cel l ul ar Mor phol ogy
The met al foam st ruct ure, shown in Fig.3, consists of ligaments forming a network of
inter-connected dodecahedral-like cells. The cells are randoml y oriented and mostly homo-
geneous in size and shape (Fig.3(a)), a result of the manufact uri ng met hod used to create
the met al foam precursor material. The triangular-shaped edges of each cell are hollow
(Fig.3(b)), a result of the manufact uri ng technique. Pore size may be varied from approxi-
mat el y 0.4 mm to 3 mm, and the net density from 3% to 15% of the solid cell wall material.
Alloys and single-element materials are readily available. Common materials include cop-
per, aluminum, stainless steel, and high t emperat ure iron-based alloys (e.g., FeCrA1Y and
nickel).
(a) Cellular morphology (b) Cross-sectional shape of cell strut
Fig.3 Porvair open-celled foam
Vol.18, No.5 Lu Tianjian: Ultralight Porous Metals 467
5. 2 Me t al Foam Fabri cat i on and Capabi l i t i es
M e t a l l i c s i n t e r i n g , m e t a l d e p o s i t i o n t h r o u g h e v a p o r a t i o n , e l e c t r o d e p o s i t i o n o r c h e m i c a l
v a p o r d e p o s i t i o n ( C V D ) , a n d i n v e s t m e n t c a s t i n g ( a m o n g n u m e r o u s o t h e r m e t h o d s ) a r e u s e d
t o c r e a t e o p e n c e l l f o a m s . I n t h e f o a m c r e a t i o n t h r o u g h m e t a l s i n t e r i n g , m e t a l l i c p a r t i c l e s
a r e s u s p e n d e d i n s l u r r y a n d c o a t e d o v e r a p o l y m e r i c f o a m s u b s t r a t e . T h e f o a m s k e l e t o n
v a p o r i z e s d u r i n g h e a t t r e a t m e n t a n d t h e m e t a l l i c p a r t i c l e s s i n t e r t o g e t h e r t o c r e a t e t h e
p r o d u c t . T h i s m e t h o d i s t h o u g h t t o b e t h e m o s t c o s t - e f f e c t i v e a n d t h e m o s t a m e n a b l e t o m a s s
p r o d u c t i o n . T h e C V D m e t h o d u t i l i z e s c h e m i c a l d e c o m p o s i t i o n o f a r e a c t i v e g a s s p e c i e s i n a
v a c u u m c h a m b e r t o d e p o s i t m a t e r i a l o n t o a h e a t e d s u b s t r a t e ( p o l y m e r o r c a r b o n / g r a p h i t e ,
d e p e n d i n g u p o n t h e t e m p e r a t u r e o f t h e d e p o s i t i o n p r o c e s s ) . P r o d u c t i o n r a t e s a r e l i m i t e d i n
t h i s m e t h o d b y t h e r a t e a t w h i c h m a t e r i a l i s d e p o s i t e d o n t h e s u b s t r a t e . H i g h l y r e f r a c t o r y
m e t a l s a n d c e r a m i c s m a y b e c r e a t e d w i t h t h i s m e t h o d w i t h h i g h q u a l i t y . M o l t e n m e t a l
i n f i l t r a t i o n i s u t i l i z e d t o m a k e a l u m i n u m a n d c o p p e r f o a m m a t e r i a l s [ 2 s ] . W i t h t h i s m e t h o d ,
a f o a m p r e c u r s o r i s c o a t e d w i t h a c e r a m i c c a s i n g a n d p a c k e d i n t o c a s t i n g s a n d . T h e c a s t i n g
a s s e m b l y i s h e a t e d t o d e c o m p o s e t h e p r e c u r s o r a n d h a r d e n t h e c a s t i n g m a t r i x . M o l t e n
m e t a l i s t h e n i n f i l t r a t e d i n t o t h e c a s t i n g u n d e r p r e s s u r e , f i l l i n g t h e v o i d s o f t h e o r i g i n a l
m a t r i x . A f t e r s o l i d i f i c a t i o n , t h e m a t e r i a l i s b r o k e n f r e e f r o m t h e m o l d . T h e m e t h o d h a s
t h e a d v a n t a g e o f b e i n g c a p a b l e o f p r o d u c i n g a p r o d u c t o f h i g h l y u s e f u l m a t e r i a l s a n d a l l o y s
( s u c h a s a l u m i n u m ) , w i t h s o l i d s t r u t s . H o w e v e r , t h e p r o c e s s r e q u i r e s s e v e r a l p r o c e s s i n g s t e p s
a n d s p e c i a l i z e d e q u i p m e n t , a n d d o e s n o t l e n d i t s e l f t o r a p i d p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s e s .
O f t h e m e t h o d s s u i t a b l e t o p r o d u c e m e t a l f o a m m a t e r i a l s , t h e m e t a l s i n t e r i n g m e t h o d
o f f e r s a m o s t p r o m i s i n g m e t h o d t h a t i s c a p a b l e o f e c o n o m i c a l l y p r o d u c i n g m i l l i o n s o f c o m -
p o n e n t s a n n u a l l y . T h e p r o c e s s i s s i m i l a r t o t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f c e r a m i c f o a m m a t e r i a l s t h a t
a r e u s e d i n m o l t e n m e t a l f i l t r a t i o n , e x c e p t i n t h e h e a t t r e a t m e n t p r o c e s s . H e a t t r e a t m e n t
n e e d s , h o w e v e r , a r e i d e n t i c a l t o t h o s e r e q u i r e d i n p o w d e r m e t a l i n d u s t r y f o r s i n t e r i n g p r e s s e d
a n d i n j e c t i o n m o l d e d m a t e r i a l s , w h i c h a r e m a s s - p r o d u c e d r o u t i n e l y . P r o d u c t i o n - d e s i g n e d
e q u i p m e n t m a y b e u s e d e f f e c t i v e l y w i t h a u t o m a t e d l i n e s , e l i m i n a t i n g t h e n e e d f o r h a n d l i n g
i n t h e p r o c e s s , a n d y i e l d i n g h i g h - q u a l i t y , l o w - c o s t m e t a l f o a m m a t e r i a l s f o r u s e i n a v a r i e t y
o f a p p l i c a t i o n s .
T o e f f e c t i v e l y u s e m e t a l f o a m m a t e r i a l s i n h e a t e x c h a n g e d e v i c e s , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o
c o m b i n e t h e m a t e r i a l w i t h t u b e s a n d s h e e t s f o r f l o w c o n t r o l a n d h e a t t r a n s f e r . D e v e l o p m e n t
e f f o r t s h a v e t a k e n u p a t P o r v a i r ( U S A ) t o s u c c e s s f u l l y c o m b i n e a v a r i e t y o f m e t a l f o a m
m a t e r i a l s w i t h s o l i d s t r u c t u r e s . S e v e r a l c o m p o n e n t s h a v e b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d c o m b i n i n g t u b e s
a n d o t h e r s o l i d m a t e r i a l s t o c o n s t r u c t a d v a n c e d , m u l t i f u n c t i o n a l h e a t e x c h a n g e d e v i c e s f o r
a v a r i e t y o f c u s t o m e r s . A n i m p o r t a n t c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n t h e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e a d v a n c e d h e a t
e x c h a n g e r s i s t h e q u a l i t y o f t h e b o n d j o i n t b e t w e e n f o a m a n d s o l i d m a t e r i a l t h r o u g h w h i c h
h e a t i s t r a n s f e r r e d [ 2 4 ] . F i g u r e 4 ( a ) i s a p h o t o g r a p h o f a d e v e l o p m e n t a l c o m p o n e n t c o n s i s t -
i n g o f t u b e s i m b e d d e d i n a m e t a l f o a m m a t r i x , g e n e r a t i n g a n a d v a n c e d h i g h - t e m p e r a t u r e
r a d i a t o r . M e t a l l u r g i c a l b o n d i n g b e t w e e n t h e t u b e w a l l a n d t h e f o a m m a t r i x i s a c h i e v e d b y
s i n t e r i n g d u r i n g m a t e r i a l h e a t t r e a t m e n t ( F i g . 4 ( b ) ) .
5. 3 Ex pe r i me nt s
The exper i ment al appar at us mai nl y consists of four sections: cool ant supplier, t est
sect i on, t est model , and da t a acqui si t i on syst em. A phot ogr aph of t he t est rig wi t h a sam-
ple (Fi g. 5(a)) i nsert ed in its t est sect i on is shown in Fi g. 5(b). Ai r is used as a cool ant
and is forced t hr ough t he channel i nl et by a suct i on t ype air blower. A t ot al of four
468 ACTA MECHANICA SINICA (English Series) 2002
(a)
Metal foam compact heat exchanger
Fig.4
(b) Co-sintering metallic bond be-
tween tube surface and cell strut
(a) Metal foam heat sink
(b) Heat transfer experimental set-up
Fig.5
static pressure taps are placed along the flow direction on t he upper copper skin. An asym-
metrical isoflux (constant wall heat flux) boundary condition is imposed on the lower copper
skin by a heating element (silicone-rubber etched foil from Watlow TM Inc.). Five thin foil
(each 0.05 mm thick) T- t ype copper-const ant an thermocouples (from Rhopoi nt Inc.) are
inserted on the lower skin along the flow direction. There are two additional T- t ype ther-
mocouples, positioned separately at the inlet and outlet of t he test section to measure the
coolant t emperat ure at each location. A t emperat ure scanner with reading resolution of
:E0.1 K is used to record and analyze t emper at ur e readings from all thermocouples simulta-
Vol.18, No.5 Lu Tianjian: Ultralight Porous Metals 469
neous l y.
T h e s a mp l e s c ons i s t of Fe Cr A1 Y or c o p p e r me t a l f o a m b o n d e d o n t o p a n d b o t t o m t o
a t h i n c o p p e r s he e t (1 mm t hi c k) . Bo n d i n g was a c hi e ve d us i ng a n i c k e l - b a s e d b r a z e al l oy
( BNI - 6) . Me t a l f o a m p o r e s a r e of si ze of 10, 30 a n d 60 p p i ( por e s p e r i nch) . F o a m r e l a t i v e
d e n s i t y is set t o 5%, 7. 5% a n d 10%. Ta bl e s 1 a n d 2 s how t h e s pe c i f i c a t i ons for e a c h h e a t
e x c h a n g e t e s t s a mp l e . Th e s a n d wi c h e d f oa m s p e c i me n s wer e t r i mme d t o fi t i nt o t h e t e s t
s e c t i o n of a h e a t s i nk c h a n n e l of si ze 0 . 1 2 7 m( W) 0 . 1 2 7 m ( L) 0 . 0 1 2 m ( H) . I t is n o t e d
f r om Ta b l e s i a n d 2 t h a t t h e r e i s a s i gni f i cant di f f er ence b e t we e n t h e n o mi n a l a n d me a s u r e d
cel l si zes, a n d t h e cel l si ze of a Fe Cr A1 Y s a mp l e is q u i t e di f f er ent f r o m t h a t of a c o p p e r
s a mp l e wi t h t h e s a me p p i a n d r e l a t i v e dens i t y. T h e di f f er ence ma y b e a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e
ma n u f a c t u r i n g pr oc e s s ( me t a l s i n t e r i n g ) a n d p r o p e r t i e s of di f f er ent ma t e r i a l s .
T a b l e 1 Me a s u r e d c e l l a n d f o a m p a r a me t e r s f or F e C r AI Y s a mp l e s
Properties Samples
S-1 S-2 S-3 S-4 S-5 S-6 S-7
pore si ze/ ppi 10 10 30 30 60 60 30
nominal relative densi t y/ % 5 10 5 10 5 10 7.5
measured relative densi t y/ % 5.7 14.3 6.1 10.2 9.0 13.7 8.1
nominal cell si ze/ mm 2.54 2.54 0.847 0.847 0.423 0.423 0.847
measured cell si ze/ mm 3.131 3.109 1.999 2.089 0.975 0.959 1.998
hole di amet er/ t t m 161 154 110 107 43.5 41.6 110
fibre di amet er / t t m 287 351 215 267 124 154 241
T a b l e 2 Me a s u r e d c e l l a n d f o a m p a r a m e t e r s f or c o p p e r s a mp l e s
Properties Samples
S-9 S-10 S-11 S-12 S-13 S-14
pore si ze/ ppi 10 10 30 30 60 60
nominal relative dens i t y/ ~ 5 10 5 10 5 10
measured relative densi t y/ % 6.7 8.2 4.4 10.0 5.7 9.5
nominal cell si ze/ mm 2.54 2.54 0.847 0.847 0.423 0.423
measured cell si ze/ mm 2.645 2.697 1.284 1.431 0.554 0.657
hole di amet er / t i m rt/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
st rut di amet er/ t t m 263 270 122 127 88.8 93.2
5 . 4 T h e r m a l P e r f o r m a n c e
F r o m t h e p r e s s u r e d r o p me a s u r e me n t s , t h e f r i c t i o n f a c t o r f or e a c h s a mpl e , de f i ne d as
AP Dh
f = L pfU~m/2 (16)
c a n be c a l c u l a t e d , whe r e 2~) h i s t h e h y d r a u l i c d i a me t e r of t h e h e a t s i nk c ha nne l , pf i s t h e
c o o l a n t de ns i t y, a n d Um is t h e c o o l a n t ve l oc i t y a t t h e i nl et . T h e r e s u l t s a r e s hown i n
Fi g s . 6 ( a ) a n d 6( b) f or Fe Cr A1Y a n d c o p p e r s a mp l e s , r e s pe c t i ve l y. I t c a n b e s een t h a t t h e
f r i c t i o n f a c t o r a p p r o a c h e s a c o n s t a n t for each s a mp l e , as e x p e c t e d i n t u r b u l e n t fl ows a t
r e l a t i v e l y hi gh Re y n o l d s n u mb e r s .
470 ACTA MECHANI CA SINICA (English Series) 2002
500
100
I0
1
3 000
500
FeCrAIY
9 S - 1
o o o o o o 8 ~ 1 7 6 1 7 6 1 7 4 1 7 6 o o ~ S - 2
9 S - 3
9 S - 4
9 S-5
vv V w vvvv v, , , v, v, , v~wv, wVv o S-6
o S-7
" 9 " 9 % . " , % . ". - t ' . . ' ' @ ' t " . " " % 9
9 O 0 9 O g D O 0 0 0 9 9 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 GO 9
5 000
i a L n n
10 000
ReDh
(a) FeCrAIY
20 000
200
100
50
20
10
o o
copper
S-14
0 o o ~ oo Co o <~ (~D~;,30Oooo@
9 9 S - 1 2 S - 1 1 j " Aa ~ A
AA
AA
A9 9 S-IO
9 9 I mmm9 9 m~B
9 e O e ~ ' ~
~, , , " ~ 9 S-9
mm 9 9 9 - e
Z
1000 2 000 5 000 10 000 20000
ReDh
(b) Copper foams
Fig.6 Drag coefficient pl ot t ed as a function of Reynolds number
Ski n t e mpe r a t ur e Tw( x) meas ur ed f r om t her mocoupl es pl aced on t he surface of t he
t op pl at e of t he he a t si nk channel was recorded. The t ypi cal l i near var i at i on of wall surface
t e mp e r a t u r e al ong t he flow di r ect i on is obser ved for ful l y devel oped convect i on wi t h isoflux
bounda r y condi t i on, The t he r ma l per f or mance of Por val r met al f oams as a heat si nk me di um
can be assessed by cal cul at i ng t he overal l Nussel t numbe r defi ned as
wher e
l f 0 L
Nu = -~ Nu ( x ) d x (17)
q Dh (18)
Nu ( x ) - Tw(x) - Tin kf
Vol.18, No.5 Lu Tianjian: Ultralight Porous Metals 471
is t he local Nussel t numbe r at posi t i on x. Here, q is t he appl i ed heat flux, Tin is t he cool ant
i nl et t e mpe r a t ur e , and kf is t he t he r ma l conduct i vi t y of t he cool ant . The overal l Nussel t
numbe r as a f unct i on of t he Reynol ds numbe r is pr esent ed in Fi gs. 7(a) and 7(b) for FeCrA1Y
and copper sampl es, respect i vel y. The resul t s for FeCrA1Y foams show t hat , in general , t he
overal l heat t r ansf er i ncreases wi t h i ncreasi ng rel at i ve densi t y a n d decr easi ng cell size, and
i ncr easi ng t he rel at i ve densi t y is mor e i mpor t a nt t ha n r educi ng t he cell size for heat t r ansf er
enhancement . I n ot her words, var i at i ons in t he cell size influence t he pr essur e dr op mor e
t h a n t he heat t r ansf er , whi l st t he heat t r ansf er is mor e sensi t i ve t o t he var i at i ons in t he
r el at i ve density. On t he ot her hand, t he overal l heat t r ans f er of a copper s ampl e is not as
sensi t i ve t o t he rel at i ve densi t y as t ha t for a FeCrA1Y sampl e, wher eas t he cell size effect
500
400
300
I:~ 200
100
80
3 000
FeCrAIY
9 S - I $
+ S-2 _ ~ # *
9 s - 3 , , z . "
9 S-4 _ * e ~
9 S- 5 _ 4 @ a A @ < > <>m
o r + @ a i l ~ ~m
o S - 7 ~."* . , ~ ' . " ""
. ~ o A~-c~ ~' ' " e6 *
@ 0 4~D) 9 A A ~ 9 Q
9 o 0 - A 2 ' < ~ m - " - - "
. o**oO ~ , , ~ ' L ~ ~ ***.0"
9 ~ o A ~ ~ - ' " *
O ~ 9 9
,o9 9
t t t t i i i
5 000 i0 000
Reoh
20000
(a) FeCrA1Y
600
,500
400
300
200
i00
50
copper
0 0
W o
o
@ @ o 0 q
@ O ' y 9
O0
o ~ ~ v 1 ~ v r : ~ ~
9 S-9
9 S-10
9 S-11
9 S-12
~, S-13
o S-14
1000 2 000 4 000 6 000 10 000 20 000
ReDh
(b) Copper samples
Fig.7 Overall Nusselt number plotted as a function of Reynolds number
472 ACTA MECHANICA SINICA (English Series) 2002
on heat t r ansf er of t he copper sampl e is slightly more significant t han t ha t for t he FeCrA1Y
sample.
For FeCrA1Y samples, t he solid t her mal conduct i vi t y (ks) is ar ound 2 0 W/ ( m. K) , so
t he t her mal resi st ance at t he solid side is rel at i vel y large. Consequent l y, increasing t he
rel at i ve densi t y of t hese foams may cause a significant r educt i on of t he t her mal resi st ance in
t he solid phase, resul t i ng in a st r ong effect on t he overall heat t ransfer. For copper samples,
however, t he t her mal conduct i vi t y (ks) is appr oxi mat el y 300W/ ( m. K) , i mpl yi ng t hat t he
t her mal resi st ance in t he solid phase is rel at i vel y small and t he resi st ance in t he fluid phase
is rel at i vel y large. Ther ef or e, i ncreasi ng t he rel at i ve densi t y of a copper sampl e would not
l ead t o a dr amat i c effect on t he overall heat t ransfer, wher eas reduci ng t he cell size coul d t o
a cer t ai n ext ent enhance t he overall heat t r ansf er duo t o t he r educt i on of t her mal resi st ance
in t he fluid par t .
6 M E T A L F O A M S A S S O U N D A B S O R B E R S
Cellular met al s wi t h closed cells are, in general, poor sound absorbers, owing t o t he
difficulty of sound get t i ng access t o t he i nt eri or cellular st r uct ur e. The sound absor pt i on
per f or mance of close-celled met al l i c foams can nevert hel ess be much enhanced by par t i al l y
f r act ur i ng t he cell walls vi a rolling[27,2s]: t he resul t i ng smal l but shar p- edged cracks on t he
cell faces become passage ways for t he i n- and- out movement of air part i cl es, resul t i ng in
sound absor pt i on i mpr ovement . Here, t he di ssi pat i on of sound ener gy is real i zed mai nl y
t hr ough viscous and t her mal losses; ot her energy di ssi pat i ng mechani sms also exist in a
cel l ul ar met al , i ncl udi ng Hel mhol t z resonat ors, vor t ex sheddi ng from shar p l i gament s and
st r uct ur al vi br at i on, but t hei r effects on sound absor pt i on are likely t o be smal l as compar ed
t o viscous and t her mal forces [27] . One t ype of such al umi num foam wi t h t r ade name Al poras,
has been devel oped by Shinko Wi r e for use as sound absor bi ng mat eri al ; i t has been i nst al l ed
as soundproofi ng inside f act or i es/ shoppi ng mails, along t he side of a r oad/ t unnel , under neat h
an expressway, amongst many ot her appl i cat i ons (e.g., under wat er sound absorpt i on). In
addi t i on t o its at t r act i ve sound absorbi ng pr oper t y [27], t he al umi num f oam is st abl e and
does not gener at e t oxi c gases in t he presence of a flame, has high dur abi l i t y and resi st ance
t o weat heri ng, and can shield agai nst el ect r omagnet i c waves. Consequent l y, it may be
i mpl ement ed in har sh condi t i ons such as t he discharge chamber of a hi gh r epet i t i on r at e
exci mer laser used in opt i cal l i t hogr aphy where sound may r each a level as hi gh as 190 dB.
Since t he laser charge chamber is filled wi t h 99% neon and 1% fluorine gas, bot h bei ng
chemi cal l y ext r emel y aggressive, an A1 alloy foam sound absor ber woul d be sui t abl e.
As shown in t he pr evi ous sect i on, open-cel l ed al umi num foams are wi del y used as
compact heat exchangers for hi gh power el ect roni cs due t o t hei r low rel at i ve density, superi or
surface area densi t y and hi gh t her mal conduct i vi t y of t he cell edges. To minimize flow
resi st ance due t o rest ri ct i ons on pumpi ng power, a hi gh open por osi t y wi t h cell sizes l arger
t ha n 1 mm is usual l y requi red. Exper i ment al l y, it is f ound t ha t t hese foams are poor sound
absorbers. Thi s is expect ed, as Wang and Lu [29] has poi nt ed out , by usi ng an anal yt i cal
model , t hat t he cells of an open-cel l ed f oam must have sizes of t he or der of 10 -1 mm for
t he f oam t o be a good sound absorber. However, t he capabi l i t y of a cellular f oam t o absorb
sound does not always increase wi t h decreasi ng cell s i z e - - t he foam becomes a poor sound
absor ber agai n if its cell size fails bel ow 0.1 mm because most of t he sound is hence refl ect ed
back t o t he source.
Vo1.18, No. 5 / u Tianjian: Ul t r al i ght Porous Metals 473
S o u n d a b s o r p t i o n i n p o r o u s m a t e r i a l s h a s b e e n a s u b j e c t o f s i g n i f i c a n c e i n m a n y p r a c -
t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n s , a n d h a s b e e n s t u d i e d e x t e n s i v e l y i n t h e p a s t . D e l a n y a n d B a z l e y [ 3 ~
d e v e l o p e d e m p i r i c a l p o w e r - l a w r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n f u n d a m e n t a l a c o u s t i c p r o p e r t i e s ( i . e . ,
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i m p e d a n c e a n d p r o p a g a t i o n c o n s t a n t ) a n d t h e r a t i o o f s t a t i c f l o w r e s i s t i v i t y
t o f r e q u e n c y . D e s p i t e t h e i r p o p u l a r i t y a n d s u c c e s s f u l a p p l i c a t i o n i n a l a r g e n u m b e r o f s o u n d
a b s o r b e r s , t h e D e l a n y - B a z l e y e q u a t i o n s c a n n e v e r t h e l e s s l e a d t o p h y s i c a l l y u n r e a l i s t i c p r e -
d i c t i o n s , e s p e c i a l l y a t l o w f r e q u e n c i e s . A l s o , b e c a u s e t h e s e e q u a t i o n s a r e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l ,
t h e y c a r / n o t b e u s e d t o s t u d y t h e e f f e c t o f m i c r o s t r u c t u r a l p a r a m e t e r s o n s o u n d a b s o r p t i o n .
S i m i l a r l y , a l t h o u g h t h e M o r s e - l n g a r d m o d e l [ 3 1 ] i s b a s e d o n p h y s i c a l l y s o u n d p r i n c i p l e s , i t i s
n o t d i r e c t l y a p p l i c a b l e t o a p o r o u s m a t e r i a l w i t h a p a r t i c u l a r m i c r o s t r u c t u r e . B a s e d o n t h e
g e n e r a l f r e q u e n c y d e p e n d e n c e o f t h e v i s c o u s f o r c e s d e r i v e d b y J o h n s o n e t a l . [ 3 2 ] , A l l a r d a n d
C h a m p o u x [ 3 3 ] d e v e l o p e d a n e w e m p i r i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p f o r h i g h l y p o r o u s r i g i d - f r a m e d f i b r o u s
m a t e r i a l s . H e r e , t w o p a r a m e t e r s a r e n e e d e d , o n e b e i n g r e l a t e d t o t h e p o r e g e o m e t r y a n d t h e
o t h e r b e i n g t h e r a t i o o f t w o l e n g t h s c a l e s a s s o c i a t e d , r e s p e c t i v e l y , w i t h v i s c o u s a n d t h e r m a l
d i s s i p a t i o n p r o c e s s e s . A n o t a b l e f e a t u r e o f A l l a r d a n d C h a m p o u x ' s a p p r o a c h i s t h a t c o r r e c t
p r e d i c t i o n s b o t h a t l o w a n d h i g h f r e q u e n c i e s a r e o b t a i n e d . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , Z w i k k e r
a n d K o s t e n [ 3 4 ] a n d B i o t [ 3 5 ] o b t a i n e d d i f f e r e n t b u t e q u i v a l e n t s o l u t i o n s f o r u n i f o r m , c i r c u l a r
t u b e s t h a t l a y t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f a n o t h e r t y p e o f p o p u l a r t h e o r y . T o e x t e n d t h e s e s o l u t i o n s
f o r c i r c u l a r t u b e s t o m o r e c o m p l i c a t e d p o r e g e o m e t r i e s , A t t e n b o r o u g h [ 3 6 ] , A l l a r d e t a l . [ 3 7 ] ,
a n d S t i n s o n a n d C h a m p o u x [ 3 s ] i n t r o d u c e d p o r e s h a p e f a c t o r s t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e d i s c r e p a n c y
b e t w e e n t h e c r o s s - s e c t i o n a l g e o m e t r y o f a n a c t u a l p o r e a n d t h a t o f a c i r c u l a r t u b e . A n o t h e r
t h e o r e t i c a l a p p r o a c h f o r s o u n d p r o p a g a t i o n t h r o u g h p o r o u s m e d i a i s W i l s o n ' s [ 3 9 ] r e l a x a t i o n -
m a t c h e d m e t h o d b u i l t u p o n t h e p r e v i o u s w o r k o f J o h n s o n e t a ] . [ 3 2 ] . I n c o n t r a s t t o m o d e l s
b a s e d o n m a t c h i n g l o w - a n d h i g h - f r e q u e n c y a s y m p t o t i c b e h a v i o r s , W i l s o n ' s r e l a x a t i o n - t y p e
m o d e l i s p h y s i c a l l y m o r e r e a l i s t i c f o r a l l f r e q u e n c i e s . I t i s b a s e d o n t h e c o n c e p t o f m o d a l
w a v e m o d e s a n d t h e d o m i n a n c e o f a p a r t i c u l a r m o d e i n t h e d e s c r i p t i o n o f c o m p l e x d e n s i t y
a n d c o m p r e s s i b i l i t y . T h r e e p a r a m e t e r s a r e n e e d e d i n t h e r e l a x a t i o n m o d e l , i . e . , t h e s t a t i c
f l o w r e s i s t a n c e a n d t w o r e l a x a t i o n t i m e s c h a r a c t e r i z i n g t h e p r o c e s s o f w a v e f i e l d s t o e s t a b l i s h
e i t h e r v i s c o u s o r t h e r m a l e q u i l i b r i u m i n t h e m a t e r i a l .
L u e t a l . [ 4 ~ p r e s e n t e d a c o m b i n e d e x p e r i m e n t a l a n d t h e o r e t i c a l s t u d y o n a l u m i n u m
f o a m s w i t h s e m i - o p e n c e l l s a s a s o u n d a b s o r b e r . T h e f o a m i s m a d e b y i n f i l t r a t i n g m o l t e n
a l u m i n u m a l l o y u n d e r a c o n t r o l l e d h i g h p r e s s u r e i n t o t h e p o r e s o f a p r e f o r m c o n s i s t i n g o f
w a t e r - s o l u b l e p a r t i c l e s . T h e c e l l s o f t h e f o a m a r e i n t e r c o n n e c t e d b y s m a l l c i r c u l a r o p e n i n g s
w i t h s i z e s a d j u s t a b l e b y v a r y i n g t h e i n f i l t r a t i o n p r e s s u r e , p a r t i c l e s i z e , s u r f a c e t e n s i o n o f
m o l t e n a l l o y , a n d w e t t i n g a n g l e b e t w e e n m o l t e n a l l o y a n d p a r t i c l e . N o r m a l s o u n d a b s o r p t i o n
c o e f f i c i e n t a n d s t a t i c f l o w r e s i s t a n c e a r e m e a s u r e d f o r s i x s a m p l e s h a v i n g d i f f e r e n t g r a d e s o f
p o r o s i t y , p o r e s i z e a n d p o r e o p e n i n g . A s o u n d a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t l a r g e r t h a n 0 . 8 i n t h e
f r e q u e n c y r a n g e o f 8 0 0 ~ 2 0 0 0 H z i s o b t a i n e d i n s e l e c t e d s a m p l e s . N o a p p a r e n t c o r r e l a t i o n
b e t w e e n s o u n d a b s o r p t i o n a n d p o r o s i t y o r c e l l s i z e i s o b s e r v e d , w h i c h m a y b e a t t r i b u t e d t o
t h e l i m i t e d p a r a m e t e r r a n g e e x p l o r e d . H o w e v e r , t h e r e e x i s t s a n e x c e l l e n t c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n
s o u n d a b s o r p t i o n a n d p o r e o p e n i n g s i z e , w i t h s o u n d a b s o r p t i o n i n c r e a s i n g a s p o r e o p e n i n g
d e c r e a s e s . S i m i l a r l y , a r e l a t i v e l y h i g h s t a t i c f l o w r e s i s t a n c e i s b e n e f i c i a l f o r s o u n d a b s o r p t i o n .
F o r t h e s a m p l e s c o n s i d e r e d , t h e s t a t i c f l o w r e s i s t a n c e d e c r e a s e s a s t h e p o r e o p e n i n g s i z e i s
i n c r e a s e d .
A t h e o r y , b u i l t u p o n t h e a c o u s t i c i m p e d a n c e o f c i r c u l a r a p e r t u r e s a n d c y l i n d r i c a l c a r -
474 ACTA MECHANI CA SI NI CA (English Series) 2002
ities, is t hen devel oped by Lu et al.[40] t o est abl i sh t he s t r uct ur e- pr oper t y rel at i onshi p for
met al l i c foams havi ng idealized, semi -open cellular st r uct ur es, and t o i dent i fy opt i mi zed
st r uct ur es t ha t woul d maxi mi ze sound absorpt i on. Consi der an i deal i zed cellular s t r uct ur e
as shown in Fig.8; t he model f oam is t r ansver sel y isotropic, wi t h ci rcul ar por e openi ngs
ar r anged in a regul ar hexagonal l at t i ce in t he x- y pl ane (Fi g. S(b)). The uni t cell of t he f oam
is shown in Fi g. 8(c), wi t h one ci rcul ar aper t ur e of di amet er d pl aced on each of t he ei ght
surfaces (i.e., t he coor di nat i on number N of t he cell is t aken t o be 8, whi ch is close t o t he
exper i ment al l y measur ed val ue of 7.0N7.5). Let D be t he separ at i on di st ance bet ween t wo
nei ghbouri ng aper t ur es, t t he cell wall t hi ckness ( uni f or m cell wall t hi ckness is assumed and
each cell wall is assumed t o have i dent i cal t hi ckness t ) , / ) t he di st ance bet ween t he mi ddl e-
pl anes of end walls of t he uni t cell in t he l ongi t udi nal di rect i on (z-di rect i on), and L t he
t hi ckness of t he foam. The cell walls are assumed t o be t hi n, such t ha t t << D. Also, D and
I
I !
I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I J i
I r l l
I I I I
I I I I
I
I
I
I r i g i d w a l l
!
I
I
I
(a) Cross-sectional area
Y
o
0 0 o 0
0
o o
0 . j 0 ~--~
0 0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0
(b) Regular hexagonal array arrangement
of circular aperture
Fig.8
u n i t c e l l
(c) Unit cell
Model metallic foam with idealized cellular structure backed by rigid wall
Vol.18, No.5 Lu Tianjian: Ultralight Porous Metals 475
d are assumed t o be equal t o t he por e size and t he por e openi ng of a real por ous met al
made f r om part i cl es of size D; consequently, t he model mat er i al and t he real mat ei al have
i dent i cal por e connect i vi t y. Fur t her more, it is assumed t ha t t he model mat er i al and real
mat er i al have i dent i cal porosi t y. Under t hese assumpt i ons, and wi t h reference t o t he uni t
cell of Fi g. 8(c), t he por osi t y Y2 of t he model mat er i al can be cal cul at ed as
/ 2 = 1 - [3/)2 + 2 ( 3 V~ / ) 2 / 8 ) - 8 (7rd2/4)] ( t / 2)
3v/ 3D3/ 8
( 1 9 a )
On t he ot her hand, b is chosen such t hat t he vol ume of t he uni t cell, 3v/-3/~)3/8, is equal t o
t he vol ume of a spheri cal par t i cl e of di amet er D, resul t i ng in
= 0 . 9 3 1 D ( 1 9 b )
Fr om (19a) and (19b), we obt ai n
t ~ (1 - g2)D
3 -- 4I 2 (19c)
where I = d/D is t he por e connect i vi t y of a por ous met al made wi t h sphericM part i cl es
of size D. I n subsequent cMculations, t he por osi t y J? of t he model mat er i al is t aken t o be
i dent i cal t o t ha t of t he real materiM.
The ai m is t o follow t he mot i on of t he air, i ni t i al l y at rest , when t he syst em is subj ect ed
t o a global pressure gradi ent in t he form Vpe i ~ (where i = v/-L--1, w is angul ar frequency,
and t is t i me) , and t o det er mi ne t he fract i on of sound energy t hat is absor bed by t he model
semi -open f oam as a f unct i on of frequency, foam thickness, porosi t y, por e connect i vi t y, and
por e size. I t is assumed t ha t t he stimulus is sufficiently small t o r ender a l i near analysis
adequat e. Thus, t he met al skel et on is essentially motionless, gi ven its large densi t y and
stiffness as compar ed t o t hose of Mr. In addi t i on, t he wavel engt h of t he sound travelling
in ai r is assumed t o be much l arger t han b (which, in t he acoust i c r ange of i nt er es t - -
f < 4 000 Hz - - is always t he case), and t ha t t he sound wave is nor mal l y i mpi ngi ng upon
t he foam surface (i.e., t he i ncomi ng wave is t ravel l i ng along t he negat i ve di r ect i on of z-axis).
Consi der first a model f oam of thickness L = / ) , i.e., wi t h onl y one cell in z-di rect i on
(Fi g. 9(a)). The acoust i cal syst em may be model l ed, following t he pri nci pl e of electro-
acoust i c analogy, by an equi val ent electrical ci rcui t depi ct ed in Fi g. 9(b). Thr ee levels of
acoust i c i mpedance are consi dered: i nt ernal resi st ance of air poco (Po and co are t he densi t y
of ai r and sound speed in air, respect i vel y), t he i mpedance of aper t ur es Z0 = R0 + iM0,
and t he i mpedance of air inside t he cell ZD = -ipococot(w[9/co) (for simplicity, addi t i onal
i mpedance due t o viscous resi st ance along cell walls and t her moel ast i c di ssi pat i on is ne-
gl ect ed). Here, t he hexagonal pr i smat i c por e is model l ed by a ci rcul ar cyl i ndri cal pore of
equal cross-sect i onal area, and, because in general wD/co << 1, we have ZD ~ --ipoc2o/WD.
The previ ous s t udy of Wang and Lu [29] on sound absor pt i on in regul ar hexagonal honey-
combs f ound t hat , t o an excel l ent appr oxi mat i on, a hexagonal t ube can be repl aced by a
ci rcul ar t ube as long as t hey have ' the same cross-sect i onal area. Also, due t o periodicity,
onl y t hose holes nor mal t o t he z-axis are per meabl e t o sound wave; subsequent cal cul at i ons
are gr eat l y simplified by at observat i on.
476 ACTA MECHANICA SINICA (English Series) 2002
D
0
I poco
9
Ro Mo
z D [
(a) Model metallic foam with one (b) Electroacoustic analogy
cell in the thickness direction
backed by rigid wall
Fig.9
For sound pr opagat i on in ai r - sat ur at ed ci rcul ar aper t ur es in a met al l i c mat er i al under
s t andar d condi t i ons of t e mpe r a t ur e and pressure, Lu et al. [4~ f ound t ha t
R0 32~7t
Ro
poco
- =pot {1 + (9 + 212)-'/2 + 0 . 8 s d / t }
( 2 0 a )
(20b)
where t he l engt h scales d and t are bot h expressed i n mm, f is expressed in Hz, and
13 = ~ d / 2 . Not e t ha t t he dimensionless par amet er /3 is r el at ed t o t he quot i ent of
t wo stresses caused separ at el y by sound pressure and viscosity, and is commonl y known as
t he acoust i c Reynol ds number . Finally, once Z0 is det er mi ned, t he acoust i c i mpedance of
t he acoust i c syst em (Fi g. 9(a)) is si mpl y given by Z = Z0 + ZD = R + i M, f r om which t he
normM sound absor pt i on coefficient is cal cul at ed as
4R/poco (21)
= ( 1 + R/poco) 2 + (M/poCo) 2
I f t he number of cells ( = L/JD) in z- di r ect i on is l arger t ha n one, t he sound absor pt i on
coefficient of t he model f oam backed by rigid wall or air cavi t y is still cal cul at ed accordi ng
t o Eq. (21), except t hat its acoust i c i mpedance Z must now account for t he i mpedance of
addi t i onM cells and air cavity. Thi s can be achi eved st r ai ght f or war dl y by using t he electro-
acoust i c analogy. For i nst ance, in t he case of t wo cells across t he f oam t hi ckness wi t h rigid
wall backing, we have
1
Z = Zo + 1/Zr, + 1/(Zo + Zr,) (22)
For foams havi ng mor e t ha n 2 cells across t he t hi ckness di rect i on, a simple For t r an pr ogr am
is wr i t t en t o per f or m t he i t er at i on.
Voi . 18, No. 5 Lu T i a n j i a n : U l t r a l i g h t Por ous Me t a l s 477
Fi gur e 10 pr esent s t he pr edi ct ed and meas ur ed nor mal sound abs or pt i on coefficient
versus f r equency curves for t hr ee 20 mm t hi ck panel s, all backed by a rigid wall. Good agree-
ment bet ween t heor et i cM pr edi ct i ons and exper i ment al meas ur ement s is observed. Gi ven
t he i deal i zed nat ur e of t he model , t hi s agr eement bet ween t heor y and meas ur ement s is qui t e
r emar kabl e. Subsequent pa r a me t e r st udi es [4~ reveal t ha t t her e exi st s an opt i mal por e size,
an opt i mal por e openi ng size and an opt i mal por e connect i vi t y for best sound absor pt i on;
sound abs or pt i on is enhanced by i ncreasi ng t he t hi ckness of t he f oam panel , but is onl y
sl i ght l y affect ed by var yi ng t he f oam porosi t y.
sound absorpt i on coef f i ci ent s of 20 mm t hi ck panels
1.0 - i - s a m p l e "a" (exp) I ' . . . . ' " ~ ' ~ - ' -
- o - sample "b" (exp) I
- A- sample "c" (exp) | / , ~ ~' m~m~l l l .,OoS-
0.8 - - sample "a" ( t heor y) I ~ f '
- -- sample "b" ( t heor y) | j ~
o ~ 0:6 . . . . sample "c" ( t heor y) I ~ r / f . - -
~ 0.4
~ 0.2 ~,"
~ . - ~ - - - ~ - . ~ - - ~ " " " I , , , , I , , , , [ , , , ,
0==
0 500 1 000 1 500 2 000
freq ue ncy/Hz
Fig.10 Measured and predicted normal sound-absorption coefficient
versus frequency for 20-mm-thick samples backed by rigid wall
Ac k n o wl e d g e me n t The aut hor wishes t o t ha nk C. Chen, T. Ki m, C. Y. Zhao, and X.
Wang for assi st ance in exper i ment s and anal yt i cal / numer i cal model i ng.
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RE T RACT I ON
By t hi s not i ce t he Edi t or and Publ i sher of Ac t a Mechani ca Sinica r et r act f r om publ i cat i on
of t he following article:
" Dynami c Behavi or of Pi l es Embedded in Transversel y Isot ropi c Layered Media, " Zheng
Ti esheng, Ac t a Mechani ca Sinica, Vol ume 13, No. 3, August 1997, pp. 242~252
The r eason of t hi s act i on is t ha t t he i nt el l ect ual pr ope r t y of t he art i cl e does not bel ong t o
t he aut hor ci t ed. Ra t he r it was t aken wi t hout per mi ssi on f r om an earl i er art i cl e "Dynami c
Response of Single Piles Embe dde d in Tr ansver sel y I sot r opi c Layer ed Medi a" aut hor ed by
Wei mi ng Li u and Milos Novak t ha t was publ i shed in Ear t hquake Engi neer i ng and St r uct ur al
Dynami cs, Vol ume 23, 1994, pp. 1239~1257.
The Edi t or and t he Publ i sher of Act a Mechani ca Sinica r egr et t he occur r ence of t hi s un-
f or t unat e i nci dent and acknowl edge several r eader s of t he j our nal who br ought our at t ent i on
t o t hi s ma t t e r . A recent edi t or i al boar d meet i ng appr oved t he decl i nat i on for any art i cl es
in t hi s j our nal f r om t he aut hor Zhang Ti esheng wi t hi n a per i od of t hr ee years effective f r om
t he cur r ent issue.