Aluminum foam for protective packaging in comparison with polymeric foams

Abstract

Metal foams has shown their usage in variety of industrial applications. Such foams are used for protective packaging to prevent the damage in case of impact due to various accidental reasons. Many equipment needs to be transferred from one place to another for several reasons. This may lead to damage of the equipment if being improperly handled or packed. Excessive accelerations during impact may damage the equipment thus indicating the importance of properly chosen packaging material. The present investigation aims for the study of applicability of aluminum foam for protective packaging of delicate equipment in comparison with the commonly used polymeric foams. In the present investigation a circuit board, packed in foam material, is dropped at an angle onto a rigid surface. The mathematical model of packaging, foam and circuit board is developed in finite element software and it is subjected to a simulated drop from a given height to assess the level of protection. The main aim is to assess whether these foam packaging are adequate to prevent circuit board damage when the board is dropped from a particular height.