Compressive mechanical properties of foam aluminum epoxy interpenetrating phase composites

A series of quasi-static compressive experiments of pure foam aluminum, pure epoxy and foam aluminum-epoxy interpenetrating phase composites (IPC) with three kinds of volume fraction of hollow glass bead (HGB) are conducted. The stress relaxation experiments of the three IPC are performed. The deformation process and damage morphology are observed, and their failure mechanisms are analyzed. The stress-strain curves are plotted. Their change rules are discussed. The effective elastic modulus, yield limit and energy absorbing are provided. It is found that the three kinds of IPC all have better mechanical properties than pure foam aluminum. Their specific stiffness and specific strength are more than that of pure foam aluminum. The unit volume energy absorption of foam aluminum-epoxy is the maximum, and it decreases with the increase of HGB’s volume fraction. A good agreement between theoretical and experimental result is found. It is also found that the stress relaxation rate is increases with the increase of HGB’s volume fraction.