Roll forming of aluminum foam immediately after precursor foaming

Abstract

Precursor foaming is a process of manufacturing aluminum foam parts. A rapid shaping process such as plastic forming is required for mass production. In this study, the roll forming of softened aluminum foam was conducted immediately after precursor foaming before the foamed aluminum solidified. It was shown that flat aluminum foam of uniform thickness with pore structures similar to those produced by free foaming can be obtained.

Keywords

• Cellular materials
• Roll forming
• X-ray computed tomography (CT)
• Optical heating