Development on Preparation Technology of Aluminum Foam Sandwich Panels

Aluminum Foam Sandwich (AFS) panels consist of a highly porous aluminum foam core and metal face sheets. They have been known as a new functional material with many excellent comprehensive properties. AFS panels not only have many excellent properties of aluminum foam materials (extremely low density, efficient capacity of energy dissipation, high specific strength and specific stiffness, acoustic and thermal insulation, high damping, etc.), but also solve the shortcoming of low strength of single aluminum foams, which makes them interesting for a number of practical applications, such as the realization of lightweight structures with a high mechanical strength and a good capacity of energy dissipation under impacts. So far, they have received a considerable attention from a great number of researchers. In this work, the development of the preparation method of AFS panels was reviewed, and the merits and faults of different processes were discussed.