Aluminum Foam Market

Updated on : March 19, 2024

Aluminum Foam Market

The global aluminum foam market was valued at USD 43 million in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 55 million by 2027, growing at 4.8% cagr from 2022 to 2027. Significant growth in the market is observed because of the increase in the demand for aluminum foam from various end-use industries such as automotive and construction & infrastructure and industrial. Aluminum foam offers a huge range of advantages, such as cost-benefit, low weight, and good thermal conductivity, resulting in its increasing adoption in different applications.

Attractive Opportunities in the Aluminum Foam Market

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Aluminum Foam Market Dynamics

Drivers: Superior properties of aluminum foams

Aluminum foams are widely used for sound and energy absorption applications. They possess various properties, such as high stiffness, low specific weight, high compression strength, high porosity, and low thermal conductivity.  The cellular structure of aluminum foams depends on the manufacturing process, which impacts the foam's properties. Aluminum foams are widely used in various applications, such as heat exchangers, anti-intrusion bars, sound absorbers, and energy absorbers. They can withstand a high amount of mechanical energy when they are deformed. This makes them a good material for usage in energy absorbers. Aluminum foams also possess higher collapse strength than polymer-based foams. The damping capacity of aluminum foams is generally 5–10 times more than the aluminum from which the foam is made. Foams that are manufactured from nonflammable aluminum remain nonflammability even after processing.

Restraints: Difficulty in bonding, welding, and soldering aluminum foams

Experts in the aluminum foam market are still widening their knowledge regarding the interrelationship between structure and morphology. The cellular structure of aluminum foams creates a problem with their cutting and bonding. In glue-bonded aluminum foams, glued joined areas turn out to be stronger than the other part of the foam. This leads to a different rate of thermal expansion, low thermal stability at elevated temperatures, and different electrical and thermal conductivity. Furthermore, welding aluminum foam is technically difficult. This is because of the non-uniform fusion of the thin-walled skeletal structure of the aluminum foam and its varying pore size. Its irregular pore shape makes it difficult to solder. Properties such as low melting point, large shrinkage, high thermal conductivity, and expansion further make the aluminum foam soldering process difficult.

Opportunities: Increasing usage of aluminum foams in the automotive industry

For many years, reducing the weight of vehicles and increasing safety have been the major concerns for the automotive industry. Aluminum foams are an emerging class of materials with attractive properties. These materials are lightweight and have very high stiffness due to their porous structure. They offer significant potential for the reduction of vehicle weight. Aluminum foams can absorb high amounts of energy, making them suitable for shock absorption.  The usage of aluminum foams also reduces automotive vehicles' weight, leading to better fuel efficiency. Aluminum foams are gaining high acceptance in the automotive industry.  It is used in various structural automotive parts such as anti-intrusion bars, front bumpers, and crash boxes. Inferno, a Mexico-based company, has manufactured a hypercar using aluminum foams. The aluminum foam can stretch a hundred times its original length without affecting its intrinsic properties. Audi, Bentley, and Ferrari have also used aluminum foams in their automotive structural parts. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards conducted a test for measuring the impact of head injury on A-pillars in automobiles. The result showed double the head injury coefficient (HIC) value.

Challenges: Development needed to control pore size and shape of end products

The history of aluminum foams dates to the 1940s. Many patents were developed between the 1950s and 1970s, and various foaming processes were proposed. There are no solid reading materials available for those patents. Most of the R&D activities for aluminum foams have been carried out on an empirical basis, without in-depth knowledge of the underlying mechanism of the foaming process.  Further development is required to understand the reason for the critical cell wall thickness of aluminum foams. Research is carried out to control aluminum foams' pore size and shape. However, further R&D activities are needed to reduce aluminum foams' production and processing costs.

The automotive end-use industry is expected to witness highest CAGR between 2022 and 2027

Aluminum foam is finding increasing applications in the automotive industry due to the growing demand for high-performance and lightweight aluminum foam. With the growth in the automotive industry the demand for aluminum foam is also growing. Aluminum foam is used in Anti-intrusion bars and crash guards in light weight electric and hybrid cars for ensuring passengers safety due to its high energy absorbing tendency.

The anti-intrusion bars application segment accounted for a significant share in the overall aluminum foam market in 2021.

The anti-intrusion bars application leads the aluminum foam market, in terms of value due to the high demand for aluminum foam coming from automotive end-use industry. Anti-intrusion bars play an important role in absorbing the kinetic energy of the colliding vehicles. Anti-intrusion bars are generally used in ground vehicles and passenger cars to ensure passengers protection from side impacts. Side impacts are particularly dangerous as these impacts are very close to the passenger. Aluminum foam offers high energy absorption property, which makes it a favored material for usage in anti-intrusion bars in automotive industry.

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Asia Pacific is expected to lead the aluminum foam market during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific is the largest and projected to be the fastest-growing aluminum foam market. The automotive and construction industry is the major consumer of aluminum foam in the region. Due to the presence of a large number of manufacturers, it is the most important market for aluminum foam. The growth of aluminum foam is attributed to the high demand coming from the automotive and construction end-use industry. China, India, and South Korea are the major countries in the aluminum foam market in Asia Pacific region.

Increasing importance of aluminum foam in construction industry

The growing demand for lightweight structural materials in construction applications such as cladding, panels, ceilings, display platforms, and wallboards is a huge opportunity for aluminum foam manufacturers. Aluminum foams are generally used as sandwich structures in the construction sector. Features such as optimal fire, weather, and chemical resistance of aluminum foam coupled with the emerging international building codes that have challenged the construction market to be design-oriented with sustainability and energy-efficient solutions are creating an excellent opportunity for aluminum foam manufacturers.

Aluminum Foam Market Players

Some of the key players in the aluminum foam market are ERG Aerospace Corporation (US), CYMAT Technologies Ltd. (Canada), Alantum Corporation (South Korea), Liaoning Rontec Advanced Material Technology Co., Ltd. (China), Shanxi Putai Aluminum Foam Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (China), Mayser GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Aluminum King Co., Ltd (China), and Pohltec Metalfoam GmbH (Germany).

Aluminum Foam Market Report Scope

This research report categorizes the aluminum foam market based on type, application, end-use industry, and region.

Aluminum Foam Market by Type:

• Open-cell aluminum foam
• Closed-cell aluminum foam

Aluminum Foam Market by Application:

• Anti-intrusion Bars
• Heat Exchangers
• Sound Insulation
• Filters
• Others (Railway Buffer, Medical Implants)

Aluminum Foam Market by End-use industry:

• Automotive
• Construction & infrastructure
• Industrial
• Others (Aerospace, Defense, Medical)

Aluminum Foam Market by Region:

• Asia Pacific
• North America
• Europe
• Latin America
• Middle East & Africa

Recent Developments

• In April 2022, CYMAT Technologies has announced Expansion & Technological Advancements. The company is planning to expand plant output capacity to approx. USD 75 million on a staged basis  and to deploy automation and new technology to improve cost structure.
• In July 2017, ERG Aerospace Corporation opened a facility for manufacturing operations at Sparks, Nevada, in the US. The company invested USD 2.1 million in the plant. The location of the plant offers logistic advantages and low-cost labor. This expansion has helped the company to increase its geographical presence.
• In December 2017, the company Mayser GmbH & Co. KG invested in a new factory in Michigan, US, to meet the growing demand in the automotive sector. The factory also develops aluminum foam products for non-automotive field, products for safety, and foam technology. This expansion has led to the growth of the aluminum foam market in the North American region.
• In December 2017, CYMAT announced a joint-venture with Alucoil SA (Spain) for producing aluminum composite panels with metallurgically-bonded aluminum foam cores. This joint venture resulted in increasing the geographical presence of the company.

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