Synthesis and Mechanical Properties of Novel Ni/PU Hybrid Foams: A New Economic Composite Material for Energy Absorbers

Open-cell Al foams electrocoated with nano-Ni improve the energy absorption capacity in comparison to pure Al foams. Since Al foams are very expensive and as seen from micromechanical FE-simulations that the most stress under loading is on the coating, in this contribution, polyurethane (PU) foams are electrocoated with nano-Ni. The Ni/Al and the Ni/PU foams are compared regarding strength, energy absorption capacity, and costs using quasi-static compression tests and digital image correlation. Compared to Ni/Al foams, the new Ni/PU foams provide only a third of the specific energy absorption capacity per density but they are largely superior in costs per absorbed amount of energy.