Fabrication and fatigue behavior of aluminum foam sandwich panel via liquid diffusion welding method

Abstract

Aluminum Foam Sandwich panels were fabricated via liquid diffusion welding and glue adhesive methods. The Microstructure of the Aluminum Foam Sandwich joints were analyzed by Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. The metallurgical joints of Aluminum Foam Sandwich panels are compact, uniform and the chemical compositions in the diffusion transitional zone are continuous, so well metallurgy bonding between Aluminum face sheet and foam core was obtained. The joining strength of an Aluminum Foam Sandwich was evaluated by standard peel strength test and the metallurgical joint Aluminum Foam Sandwich panels had a higher peel strength. Moreover, a three-point bending fatigue test was conducted to study the flexural fatigue behavior of Aluminum Foam Sandwich panels. The metallurgical joint panels have a higher fatigue limit than the adhesive joining sandwich. Their fatigue fracture mode are completely different, the failure mode of the metallurgical joint is faced fatigue; the failure mode for the adhesive joint is debonding. Therefore, the higher joining strength leads to a longer fatigue life.