Kadhim Al Sahlani
University of Newcastle, Australia
Biography
Kadhim Al sahlani is a PhD student at School of Engineering, The University of Newcastle. He is working in Metal syntactic foam, manufacturing and characterization. He has published three papers in reputed journals
Abstract
Metal foams are a novel class of lightweight materials with unique properties. Metal syntactic foams (MSF) are manufactured by embedding hollow or porous lightweight particles in a metal matrix. Recently developed MSF have received great attention because they have the potential to replace a broad range of polymeric, ceramics and metallic foams due to their superior properties like remarkably specific strength, controlled energy absorption, brilliant damping and resistance to high temperatures and harsh conditions. Matrix properties, physical properties of filler materials, e.g. particle size and geometry, volume fraction of fillers and secondary processes e.g. heat treatment are the major parameters that strongly affect the mechanical properties of MSF. In spite of intensive research studies on MSF, cost, high density and relatively high strength are remaining the main challenges which limit the broad application of these materials. The aim of this work is to broaden the circle of MSF by introducing new low density cost-effective filler and characterization of the produced foams. The first part of this study presents the manufacturing and basic physical characterisation of MSF made using a cost-effective expanded glass (EG) particle as the filler and A356 alloy as the matrix material. Expanded glass (EG) particles are made from fully recycled soda-lime glass and have a low bulk density (0.17- 0.26 g/cm3) due to 83% volume fraction of internal porosity. In this part, particle shrinkage was studied and has been utilized to increase the particles’ strength and tailor the mechanical properties of the expanded glass/metal syntactic foam (EG-MSF). The second part presents the effect of particle size on the microstructure and mechanical properties of EG-MSF.