A Comparative Investigation on Foamability and Structure of Al Foams Added with Precipitator and Cenosphere Fly Ash Particles

Al foam is an advanced engineering material with many outstanding properties, such as very low density, high specific strength and stiffness, and large energy absorption. In the present study, pure Al foams were mixed with either cenosphere or precipitator fly ash particles of various contents. Fly ash particles are used in Al foams as reinforcement and stabilising materials which enable the foams with large expansion. It is found that Al foams with precipitator fly ash particles of various contents exhibited larger expansions than the foams with cenosphere fly ash particles. The quantitative analysis also revealed that more stable foam structure was obtained in Al foams with precipitator fly ash addition.