On the Suitability of Induction Heating for the Manufacture of Reinforced Aluminum Foam Structures

Thanks to an intriguing combination of properties, aluminum foams are becoming materials useful for applications in several industrial fields and can be of great interest as core of reinforced structures. Starting from previous studies of the authors, this research work investigates the feasibility of using the induction heating, a fast, clean, and localized source of energy, to produce structures on aluminum foam, also reinforced; in the last case, by means of an innovative single-step process based on the powder compact melting technique, which considers a steel wire mesh-grid as reinforcement and as a mold. In particular, the aim of the work is a screen of the potential of the induction heating to manufacture plain and reinforced aluminum foam structures.