Compressive and flexural mechanical properties of foam Al HGM/epoxy foam composites

Pure foam Al, foam Al-epoxy and three types of foam Al-hollow glass microbead (HGM)/epoxy foam interpenetrating phase composites (IPC) with different volume fractions of HGM were prepared. A series of quasi-static compressive experiments were conducted. Their deformation morphologies were observed. The relationship between volume fraction of HGM and their elastic modulus, yield limit, specific strength and specific stiffness were studied. Three point bending tests were carried out to investigate the load limit and flexural modulus. The relationship between fracture morphologies and structural behavior was discussed. It is found that the mechanical properties of these four IPC are better than pure foam Al. The mechanical properties of foam Al-epoxy is the best one. The mechanical properties of IPC decrease slowly with the increase of volume fraction of HGM.