Abstract The closed-cell aluminum composite foams reinforced by different volume fractions of SiC particles were manufactured with the direct foaming route of melt using different content of CaCO3 foaming agent. The relative density of produced foams changed from 0.17 to 0.27. Sound absorption characteristic of the aluminum foam sheets and sandwich structures composed of aluminum foam core and aluminum face-sheet was investigated in this paper. The absorption coefficient of the structures was measured in different thicknesses and relative densities by the transfer function method. Compared with the single aluminum foam, the sandwich panel shows a significant improvement in sound absorption if the single foam and the sandwich panel have a same thickness of sample. The effect of structural parameters such as relative density and thickness of the aluminum foam on the sound absorption performance is significant.

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