Bi-continuous interpenetrated porous composite integrating the high strength and long plateau stress stage prepared by an in situ method

In this paper, bi-continuous interpenetrated porous composites (BIPCs) were prepared with the combination of melt foaming and infiltration casting process. All BIPCs exhibited superior mechanical performance than aluminum foam (AF) and the sum of their components. Among them, 4# BIPC (with 75 struts) showed the highest specific energy absorption which is 2.70 times that of AF, and 3# BIPC (with 48 struts) presented the best improvement in terms of structural strength, while 2# BIPC (with 27 struts) exhibited the largest enhancement of energy absorption. The results indicate that the in situ interface of AF and ordered lattice structure contributes to the enhanced strength of BIPCs, while pores in AF prolongs the stress plateau stage. This research provides a novelty method to solve the trade-off between different mechanical property indicators.