Industry solutions with aluminum foam: on water, in the air and on land
Aluminum foam can be used on water, in the air and on land: the very light and comparatively stable material is a key material for lightweight structures in industries and sectors that place high but cost-effective demands on the material and where energy use is to be improved at the same time, for example by reducing weight. Havel metal foam provides industry solutions for ten sectors, from automotive and the railway industry to architecture and drones; the weight savings published for each industry range from 18 to 30 %.
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What can aluminum foam do in automotive engineering?
Aluminum foam is excellent at absorbing vibrations, shocks and impacts, which makes it particularly suited to areas where stiffness and crash performance matter. In automotive engineering it can point the way for load-bearing structures in cars and commercial vehicles: it absorbs more deformation energy than plain steel profiles, so the material is impaired only after a very high degree of deformation. Applications range from foamed bumpers and side impact protection to the battery box for electric vehicles and underrun protection for trucks.
What can aluminum foam do in the railway industry and infrastructure?
The potential energy saving of up to 30 percent compared with plain steel plates is particularly significant in rail transport: sandwich construction makes heavy locomotives lighter; less weight lowers energy consumption, increases efficiency and reduces emissions. Aluminum foam sandwiches are formable, weldable and repairable, save 18 % in weight and are non-combustible (DIN EN 45545-2: classified HL3). They are used, among other things, as floor panels, ceiling and wall elements and in wheel arches to reduce noise.
What can aluminum foam do in shipbuilding?
In shipbuilding, hatches, doors, frames and rudders can be made with aluminum foam. The foam absorbs hardly any water and can be made from seawater-resistant alloys. If the structure itself is built from metal foam sandwiches, the weight reduction allows more to be carried for the same energy consumption and reduces the draft, as trialed on the hull of an inland vessel in the funded project ULIVES / MARTEC ERA-NET. The weight saving is 20 to 30 %.
What can aluminum foam do in mechanical engineering?
In mechanical engineering, lightweight composite materials allow a considerable reduction in the weight of the masses being moved. For moving assemblies, lower mass and high vibration damping are a great advantage: smaller drives and a design for lower forces become possible. Depending on the application, the result is higher machining accuracy, higher machining speed and a longer service life, from machine tools and laser applications to pick & place applications.
What can aluminum foam do in wind energy?
Aluminum foam or aluminum foam sandwiches can also be used in wind turbines. In turbine blades or guide plates, this can save weight and therefore drive power. Another advantage is saving the considerable manufacturing effort for the turbine blades: aluminum foam shaped elements can be given the required shape as they are made. The material is formable and weldable; joints can be made with threaded inserts.
What can aluminum foam do in defense?
Aluminum foam systems are suitable for applications in personal and building protection. They are distinguished above all by their effect as explosion protection and their resistance to fire: thanks to its cellular structure, aluminum foam is able to convert large amounts of kinetic energy into deformation energy. Buildings, containers and vehicles can be equipped faster, more lightly and therefore more cheaply with aluminum foam sandwiches, from airports and control centers to armored vehicles.
The industries at a glance
Which industries have fully developed solutions?
Also asked: Which fields of use are covered? · In which industries is the material used?
Havel metal foam offers industry solutions for ten sectors: automotive, the railway industry and infrastructure, shipbuilding, inland shipping, aviation and airport security, mechanical engineering, wind energy, defense, architecture and drones. Each of these industries has its own page with its components, figures and evidence, because the property that matters is not the same everywhere: in mechanical engineering it is damping, in shipbuilding the weight saving and the behavior in seawater, in the railway industry the fire behavior. Across all industries, the weight savings published by Havel metal foam range from 18 to 30 %, in each case compared with the material the component was previously made of; which value applies to which component is stated on the industry page that measured it.
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What if my industry is not listed?
Also asked: Are there solutions outside the industries named? · Does Havel metal foam also produce for other industries?
At Havel metal foam the material is chosen by load case, not by industry, which is why a missing industry page does not rule anything out. The company's own documents cover further fields beyond the ten pages, including offshore and logistics, without a page of their own. An inquiry therefore needs three details rather than the industry: the geometry of the component, the load case and the property required, that is, absorption, damping, stiffness, fire behavior or heat conduction.
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Which markets does the company focus on strategically?
Also asked: Where is the focus? · Which industries are given priority?
Havel metal foam concentrates on five strategic focus markets: automotive, aviation, rail, mechanical engineering and shipbuilding. In addition there are six further fields: aerospace, wind energy, offshore, the construction industry, energy technology, and security and protection. The difference matters in practice: in a focus market there are more components built, more measurements and more project experience, while the further fields are areas where the material can be used. How deep the experience in your own field goes is stated on the relevant industry page.
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Why the material works in many industries
Why can the same material be used in such different industries?
Also asked: What is the common working principle? · When does the material play to its strengths?
The aluminum foam from Havel metal foam works through one principle with several effects at once. Its cellular structure converts kinetic energy into deformation work instead of releasing it through a crack; because the structure is purely metallic and free of adhesive, non-flammability, recyclability and metallic processability come with it at no extra effort. The material realizes its full potential precisely when several of these properties come together in one application. A railway floor panel needs stiffness, low weight and fire behavior at the same time, and that is the case in which it is cheaper than three separate solutions.
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Is the same foam density used for every application?
Also asked: Is the material set up differently for each industry? · How is the material matched to the load case?
No. Havel metal foam matches the material to the load case through the core density, within the available range of 0.5 to 0.8 g/cm³, and through the design. A low density gives the lowest weight, a higher density more compressive strength and stiffness. Then comes the choice of cover layer: steel for the stiffer design, aluminum for the lighter one. That is why naming an industry is not enough to design a component; what is needed is the load case and the property required. The full values for each density grade are on the Material values page.
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State of the evidence
Which standards and tests are documented for each industry?
Also asked: What evidence is available? · Which standards can a project rely on?
Havel metal foam has four points documented, each with a different status. Material testing of AAS and SAS to DIN EN 45545-2 resulted in classification as HL3; no certificate was applied for. For laser workstations, the sandwich material AAS 15-1-1 (1 mm aluminum sheet / 13 mm aluminum foam / 1 mm aluminum sheet) was tested to DIN EN 12254:2012-04. The protection level is AB5 (continuous-wave laser, wavelength 1064 nm) or AB7 (continuous-wave laser, wavelength 10,600 nm). The truck underrun protection MF UFS G1 has its own type approval, which is given on its product page. And the traction battery standards GB 38031 and ECE 100 are standards that ongoing projects are working towards, not certifications of the material. In addition, the management system is certified to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and DIN EN ISO 14001:2015, with the registration numbers QM-060614-DE and UM-060614-DE, valid from August 27, 2026 to August 26, 2029.
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Which evidence expressly does not exist?
Also asked: Where are test results missing? · What are the limits of the evidence?
Three kinds of evidence are missing at Havel metal foam, and an inquiry that assumed otherwise would rest on a false premise. For ballistic effect and for explosion protection there are no test values with a testing body, date and report number; only the working principle is documented, that is, the conversion of kinetic energy into deformation work. There is no aviation approval; none of the relevant certification specifications has been addressed. And for sound insulation and for zinc foam there are no measured values yet. Where a project needs one of these, it is the subject of the inquiry, not an existing document.
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