Foam offers superior heat exchange and impact absorption

Paul Boughton

Goodfellow, the supplier of metals and materials for research and industry, has announced the availability of a cost-effective aluminium foam that offers superior heat exchange and impact absorption for a wide range of applications.

The foam is made by sand casting, which allows the exact form of the foam to be determined before its manufacture. The result is a foam of stacked 10mm cells – evenly spaced, open pores, with each manufactured piece identical to and having exactly the same behaviour as other pieces from the same casting process.

Advantages of the new foam are focused in two main areas. In heat exchange, the high porosity (80-90 per cent) and very high relative surface area of up to 500 m2/m3 facilitate the movement of fluids and the recovery of heat, even at low speeds. For impact absorption, a regular, reproducible aluminium foam product can be designed with the end use in mind, making it possible to optimise the exact structure necessary to absorb the energy from an impact based on a specific application.

Goodfellow offers standard sheets of 40mm x 100mm x 172mm with a cell size of 10mm and one surface clad in a solid aluminium sheet. It is possible to specify other sizes or foams without a solid cladding on one surface.

For more information, visit www.goodfellow.com