Cymat and Tesseract co-operate on aluminum foam use

Cymat’s aluminum foam.
Photo: Cymat

TORONTO — Cymat Technologies Ltd. has entered into a co-operation agreement with Tesseract Structural Innovations Inc., an automotive design company specializing in the creation of light-weight solutions for crash energy absorption.

The Fayetteville, Ariz. company’s patented Uniform Deceleration Unit  (UDU) applies Cymat’s SmartMetal in combination with a high-strength aluminum skin.

Toronto-based Cymat manufactures stabilized aluminum foam, an ultra-light, cellular metallic material.

The company’s proprietary production process entails the injection of gases through a molten bath of alloyed aluminum infused with ceramic particles.

The result is an advanced, lightweight, recyclable material. Its characteristics include: customizable density and dimensions; mechanical energy absorption; thermal and acoustic insulation; and time, temperature and strain-rate insensitivity.

Tesseract’s UDU has been proven in physical crush and FEA simulations to absorb more energy than any other approach by weight. Cymat said the result is a light-weight, low-cost, energy absorption system that mitigates small overlap crashes in passenger vehicles and light trucks.

The same unit can also be adapted for use in electric vehicles to protect batteries during crashes.

The companies are combining their resources and expertise to strategically market the UDU system and to develop and market future energy absorption innovations within the automotive industry.