Aluminum Foam Alternatives

Discussions focus on properties, applications in aviation and construction, and suggestions for alternative materials like polystyrene foam, fiberglass, epoxies, and composites compared to a new ultralight aluminum foam from a Nature paper.

📉 Falling 0.4x Science
2,909
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#9679
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
1
2008
18
2009
17
2010
31
2011
30
2012
78
2013
67
2014
53
2015
93
2016
94
2017
136
2018
181
2019
179
2020
218
2021
338
2022
345
2023
409
2024
289
2025
301
2026
33

Keywords

AFAIK PA6 IMO JET sciencemag.org PMMA LV nature.com sciencing.com NIST material plastic materials carbon foam properties wood asbestos ice concrete

Sample Comments

csn Nov 3, 2015 View on HN

polystyrene foam on the other hand might do the trick

idontwantthis May 19, 2025 View on HN

Would this be a good material for aviation?

harhargange Aug 13, 2024 View on HN

A lot of foamy materials are indeed used for that purpose

lerie1982 Mar 12, 2020 View on HN

Why weren't other materials tested? Brick, concrete, woods?

Paradigma11 Jun 19, 2025 View on HN

Did they use cardboard derivatives?

djmips Feb 13, 2020 View on HN

Have you considered fibre reinforced plastic? I'm not an expert but I'm curious if that's a good option.

Sosh101 Jul 20, 2023 View on HN

I wonder if such a thing is possible with modern materials?

numakerg Aug 27, 2019 View on HN

What about using plastic or some flexibly epoxy. Would it have some adverse effect or is there a cost issue?

xupybd Dec 14, 2023 View on HN

Why not use other materials?Modified acrylic or compact laminate?That will save lives.

enva2712 Mar 23, 2024 View on HN

I wonder why they didn’t try a pdms resin as wellhere’s the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07061-4.pdf