Effect of heat treatment on the compressive behavior of zinc alloy ZA27 syntactic foam

Zinc alloy (ZA27) syntactic foams (SF) were manufactured using expanded perlite (EP) particles and counter-gravity infiltration casting. Due to a variation of the metallic matrix content, the density of the produced foam samples varied from 1.78 to 2.03 g·cm⁻³. As-cast and solution heat-treated samples were tested to investigate the compressive properties of the ZA27 syntactic foam. To this end, quasi-static compression tests were conducted. In addition, microstructural analysis of the as-cast and heat-treated syntactic foams was carried out using scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the heat treatment alters the microstructure of the ZA27 alloy matrix from a multiphase dendrite to a spheroidized microstructure with improved ductility. Moreover, the heat treatment considerably enhances the energy absorption and plateau stress (σ_pl) of the syntactic foam. Optical analysis of the syntactic foams under compression shows that the dominant deformation mechanism of the as-cast foams is brittle fracture. In comparison, the heat-treated samples undergo a more ductile deformation.