Carbon and graphite foams are at the center of intensive development for thermal management, thermal protection, filtration, packing, sensor and structural applications. The objective of this research is to develop and characterize multi-functional foams with optimal thermal, electrical, magnetic and oxidation resistant properties. The processing is carried out with reinforcing additives with varying size and shape during foaming. In parallel to demonstrating the viability of processing such foams, testing has commenced to identify the resultant mechanical properties. To date, successful infiltration of carbon foams with regular carbon fibers and carbon nanofibers, carbon black and exfoliated graphite has occurred to enhance strength and anisotropy. Microscopy observations with X-ray tomography are undertaken to build representative volume elements for computational simulations. A procedure for translating digital CT images into a 3-D volumetric representation has been demonstrated for a set of carbon foam images and a computational analysis is performed. The present focus is to illustrate synchronous finite element simulations to tailor processing parameters to generate optimized hybrid foams.
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