Static and dynamic analyses of aluminum foam geometric models using the homogenization procedure and the FEA

This paper presents static and dynamic analyses of closed and open cell aluminum foam geometric models using the homogenization technique and the FEA. The RVE models were designed with regard to: the pore size, cell wall and foam porosity of aluminum foam samples. Static analyses of foam cubes were performed in order to obtain the elastic moduli of the analyzed models. The obtained data was afterwards used for the modal analyses. Two types of models: homogenized beam models and optimized-homogenized beam models; and three types of structures: simple beam, sandwich beam and double sandwich beam were used for these analyses. The purpose of the optimized-homogenized model is to save design and calculation time. The results showed that at lower frequencies the models (homogenized beam and optimized-homogenized beam) reach similar natural frequencies and mode shapes. At higher frequencies the geometric shape and the geometric flaws have a big influence on the results.