Mechanical Properties of Functionally Graded Porous Aluminum Consisting of Pure Aluminum and Al-Mg-Si Aluminum Alloy

Porous aluminum can potentially satisfy both the lightweight and high-energy-absorption properties required for automotive components. In this study, functionally graded porous aluminum consisting of pure aluminum and Al-Mg-Si A6061 aluminum alloy was fabricated by a sintering and dissolution process. It was found that functionally graded porous aluminum with the same pore structures but different types of aluminum alloy can be fabricated. By performing compression tests on the fabricated functionally graded porous aluminum, it was found that its stress-strain curve initially exhibited a relatively low plateau stress similar to that of uniform porous pure aluminum. Thereafter, the stress-strain curves exhibited a relatively high plateau stress similar to that of the uniform porous A6061 aluminum alloy. Namely, it was found that the compression properties of porous aluminum can be adjusted and optimized by selecting the appropriate type of aluminum alloy.