After years of extensive testing and development, a revolutionary material known as Composite Metal Foam (CMF) is now ready for full-scale production. This cutting-edge material combines the strength of steel with the lightweight properties of aluminum, making it not only strong and durable but also highly resistant to ballistic impacts, fire, and radiation.
The brainchild of North Carolina State University engineer Afsaneh Rabiei, CMF has been under development for over a decade. Recently, Advanced Materials Manufacturing (AMM) announced that CMF is now ready for industrial production, opening the door to a wide range of applications in various engineering fields.
CMF is a unique material composed of a network of hollow metal bubbles embedded in a matrix of metals such as steel, titanium, aluminum, or other alloys. This combination of materials gives CMF its remarkable strength while maintaining a low density, offering both toughness and lightness. Despite being a type of metal foam, CMF stands out as the strongest of its kind.
Unlike traditional materials, CMF has been proven to significantly reduce weight and carbon emissions while improving both safety and performance in advanced engineering structures. This makes it an ideal choice for industries seeking to balance strength with efficiency.
One of CMF’s most notable attributes is its exceptional performance in ballistic protection. In a 2019 study, CMF vehicle armor was tested against .50 caliber rounds (both ball and armor-piercing). The results were impressive: CMF provided the same level of protection as conventional steel armor but at less than half the weight. The CMF armor absorbed 72-75% of the kinetic energy from ball rounds and 68-78% from armor-piercing rounds.
“The CMF armor was less than half the weight of the rolled homogeneous steel armor needed to achieve the same level of protection,” Rabiei said in the 2019 press release. “In other words, we were able to achieve significant weight savings—which benefits vehicle performance and fuel efficiency—without sacrificing protection.”
Over the past few years, CMF has undergone rigorous testing to assess its resilience against ballistics, blasts, vibrations, fire, and radiation. Its versatility in different environments makes it an ideal material for a wide range of industries.
CMF also excels at heat insulation. A 2016 study published in the International Journal of Thermal Sciences compared CMF’s heat resistance with that of solid stainless steel. When exposed to a 1472°F (800°C) flame, CMF took twice as long to reach the same temperature as the stainless steel, demonstrating its superior insulating properties.
This heat insulation capability makes CMF a prime candidate for applications that require protection from extreme temperatures, such as hazardous chemicals, high-speed vehicles, and even spacecraft. The air pockets within the CMF structure slow down the transmission of heat, as heat travels more slowly through air than metal.
CMF also shows promise in radiation shielding. It has been shown to effectively block X-rays and gamma rays, which are common in space environments. In addition, it has potential for shielding against neutron radiation, such as that emitted by nuclear reactors and explosions.
Given its combination of ballistic protection, heat insulation, and radiation shielding, CMF is poised for a wide range of applications. From space exploration and nuclear waste containment to military defense and transportation, the material has the potential to revolutionize multiple industries.
“In short, CMFs hold promise for a variety of applications: from space exploration to shipping nuclear waste, explosives and hazardous materials, to military and security applications and even cars, buses, and trains,” said Rabiei in a press release.
As CMF enters full-scale production, it offers a glimpse into the future of advanced materials—ones that combine strength, lightweight properties, and resistance to some of the most extreme conditions on Earth and beyond.
By Impact Lab
