Mechanical properties of structures of semifinished products joined to aluminium foams

In this work, new construction elements for applications in the transportat ion industry with high stiffness and energy absorption values, which are ba sed on a combination of commonly applied structures of aluminium semifinish ed products and aluminium foams are investigated, The work evaluates the me chanical properties of laser beam welded and glued sheet-bandwich structure s which were characterised by shear tests under tensile loading and four-po int bend tests. In addition, compression tests on different aluminium tube' s partially and completely filled with aluminium foam have been carried out . In order to evaluate the influence of the joining process on the filled c omponents, the results are compared to structures where the foam is fixed b y interference fitting. The results of this work show a strong motivation f or further research on the properties of structures of semifinished product s and aluminium foam. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.