Fraunhofer Developing Hybrid Foams for Lightweight Automotive and Aerospace Construction
27 January 2009
A research group comprising the Fraunhofer Institutes for Chemical Technology ICT, Manufacturing Engineering and Applied Materials Research IFAM, Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, Silicate Research ISC and Mechanics of Materials IWM is developing multifunctional hybrid foams with improved mechanical, thermal and acoustic properties.
Plastic foams are light and flexible but cannot withstand high temperatures, metal foams are extremely tough but are heavy and not very flexible. Ceramic foams are quite stiff and can resist even very high temperatures, but are rather difficult to shape.
In the automotive and aerospace industries, it would be more effective and resource-saving to combine the flexibility of plastic with the resilience of metal to create a material with entirely new properties.
The Fraunhofer team is working to achieve that by developing hybrid foams. These materials have the potential to acquire completely new characteristics, while at the same time eliminating the specific weaknesses of each constituent, such as the heavy weight of the metal foam.
Fraunhofer researchers will demonstrate the efficiency of the novel materials in three test applications: increasing the sound insulation in a combustion engine; improving the energy absorption in a crash box; and manufacturing lightweight, high-strength components.
I wrote the manufacturers of Expanded Polyproplyene foam a couple of years ago advising them that there was a potential large market for their product in the automotive market.
They didn't bother to reply.
Posted by: Lucas | 27 January 2009 at 09:18 AM
Polyamide-imide and some other polymers, like polyetheretherketone (PEEK), can withstand high temperatures. So if you're looking for high temperature foam, perhaps foamed versions of the above polymers could help.
We note that nanoclay has been used for reinforcing polymers. So Fraunhofer should try try foamed versions of high temperature polymers with nanoparticle reinforcement.
Posted by: Alex Kovnat | 27 January 2009 at 10:04 AM