Sound absorption in metallic foams

The sound absorption capacity of one type of aluminum alloy foams—trade name Alporas—is studied experimentally. The foam in its as-received cast form contains closed porosities, and hence does not absorb sound well. To make the foam more transparent to air motion, techniques based on either rolling or hole drilling are used. Under rolling, the faces of some of the cells break to form small sharp-edged cracks as observed from a scanning electronic microscope. These cracks become passage ways for the in-and-out movement of air particles, resulting in sound absorption improvement. The best performance is nevertheless achieved via hole drilling where nearly all of the sound can be absorbed at selected frequencies. Combining rolling with hole drilling does not appear to lend additional benefits for sound absorption. Image analysis is carried out to characterize the changes in cell morphologies due to rolling/compression, and the drop in elastic modulus due to the formation of cracks is recorded. The effects of varying the relative foam density and panel thickness on sound absorption are measured, and optimal relative density and thickness of the panel are identified. Analytical models are used to explain the measured increase in sound absorption due to rolling and/or drilling. Sound absorbed by viscous flow across small cracks appears to dominate over that dissipated via other mechanisms.