Effect of Geometrical Modeling on the Prediction of Laser-Induced Heat Transfer in Metal Foam

Over the past several decades, aluminum foam (Al-foam) has found increasing popularity in industrial applications due to its unique material properties. Unfortunately, till date Al-foam can only be affordably manufactured in flat panels, and it becomes necessary to bend the foam to the final shape that is required in engineering applications. Past studies have shown that thin cell walls crack and collapse when conventional mechanical bending methods are used. Laser forming, on the other hand, was shown to be able to bend the material without causing fractures and cell collapse. This study was focused on the thermal aspects of laser forming of closed-cell Al-foam. An infrared camera was used to measure the transient temperature response of Al-foam to stationary and moving laser sources. Moreover, three different numerical models were developed to determine how much geometrical accuracy is needed to obtain a good agreement with experimental data. Different levels of geometrical complexity were used, including a simple solid geometry, a Kelvin-cell based geometry, and a highly accurate porous geometry that was based on an X-ray computed tomography (CT) scan. The numerical results were validated with the experimental data, and the performances of the numerical models were compared.