A new material for structures in space, which have a high energy absorbability has been developed using a powder particle assembling technique. Powder particles of polystyrene coated with nickel-phosphorus alloy layers using electroless plating were sintered at high temperature. A metallic closed cellular material containing polystyrene was then constructed.

The mechanical and ultrasonic properties of this material were measured at both room and high temperatures. The compressive tests of this material show a low Young's modulus and high energy absorption. Ultrasonic measurement shows that the attenuation coefficient of this cellular material is very large and would change due to increasing temperature. These results indicate that this metallic closed cellular material can be used for the space applications.