GOALI: Laser Forming of Metal Foam with Controlled Dimensional and Mechanical Properties

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This Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) research project investigates a novel process for laser forming of metal foam. Metal foam has shown great potential in industrial applications by virtue of its excellent shock absorption properties and light weight. Metal foam is most economically manufactured in flat panel format and then bent as required in particular applications. The high structural rigidity due to its cellular geometry, however, makes metal foam prone to cell wall crushing and cracking when mechanically bent. Laser forming, on the other hand, has shown the capability of shaping solid metal plates without applying mechanical forces nor requiring dies. Knowledge developed for laser forming of solid metal plates, however, is not directly applicable to foams due to fundamental differences between solids and foam metals in their response to laser irradiation and deformation. The success of this project is expected to enable the design and fabrication of innovative engineering components that incorporate low-density metal foam to significantly enhance component performance or introduce groundbreaking functionalities. The PI's strong support from a key industrial partner could lead to a rapid development of industry applications of these components with broad societal impact including enhanced safety, reduced weight and fuel consumption for a wide range of industries including automotive, aerospace, and defense. Underrepresented students will be recruited, and high school students and STEM teachers from neighborhood schools will be engaged in an innovative combination of "reach out" and "let in" activities.The project aims to develop a fundamental understanding of the thermo-mechanical mechanisms that govern laser forming of low-density metal foam, determine how the forming mechanisms contribute to the formation of defects such as buckled cells and micro-cracks at large bending angles. The fundamental understanding will allow mitigation of the defects, control of dimensional accuracy and improvement mechanical properties in bent products, and quantify the above phenomena by establishing predictive capabilities. Laser forming experiments will be performed and results quantified. The formation of micro-cracks, buckled cells and melted material at large bending angles will be analyzed. The experimental results will validate thermal-mechanical numerical models. This project is expected to considerably advance the understanding of interactions between laser irradiation and low-density metal foam using a fundamental approach to both simulation and experimental analysis.