What Havel Metal Foam makes

Havel Metal Foam is a series manufacturer of aluminum foam and aluminum foam sandwiches, sold under its Havel Lite brand. Aluminum foam is a closed-pore metallic material, lighter than water at a density of roughly 0.5 g/cm3, with a stochastic cell structure closer to bone or coral than to a honeycomb. The company builds structural lightweight components from it for automotive, rail, defence, shipbuilding, wind energy, and general mechanical engineering applications.

The product range covers four aluminum foam technologies that the company says it is the first and only manufacturer to run in series production. Aluminum-aluminum foam sandwiches (AAS) bond a foam core between two aluminum sheets; steel-aluminum foam sandwiches (SAS) foam directly against steel cover sheets; pure aluminum foam panels and foam-filled profiles round out the panel range; and 3D shaped elements are moulded for specific parts, such as a crash absorber for the luggage-net area of an Audi Q7. The company also lists battery boxes for electric vehicles, 3D sandwiches, antibacterial safety equipment, and zinc foam.

For tier suppliers and OEMs weighing lightweight construction, the appeal is structural: aluminum foam absorbs vibration, blows, and crash energy through plastic deformation, and the company reports that adding it can raise the torsional stiffness of a complete vehicle body by about 10 percent. It is fully recyclable, which matters for the same automotive programs now scrutinizing material footprint.

Technology and manufacturing

Havel Metal Foam covers the full value chain from raw powder to finished foamed part. Using its own powder mixing machine and a roll, it prepares foamable primary materials in house, then foams them in independently developed infrared high-power ovens that the company describes as powerful toasters. Profiles up to six metres long are foamed in a special continuous furnace. Finished sandwiches and panels are milled on a portal machine to a maximum size of 2.95 by 1.45 metres, and further processed by bending, welding, milling, and drilling into components. In-house R&D and FEM calculation support new part designs.

The production technology was co-developed with the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU), a detail the company states directly and one that anchors an otherwise young operation in an established research base. Its 2021 company profile cites a production capacity of 500,000 square metres per year at the Kirchmoser site.

The electric-vehicle battery box is the clearest example of the technology solving a specific problem. The housing is built entirely from aluminum foam sandwiches; foam panels between cells act as spacers and crash absorbers, and cooling pipes can be foamed directly into the metal core so the same part manages both impact protection and battery temperature. The company references the EU EVERSAFE research project, which simulated an underbody impact from a 943 kg vehicle at 40 km/h over an obstacle, as part of the case for foam sandwich underbody protection.

Ownership and history

Havel Metal Foam GmbH was founded in 2013 at the industrial site of Kirchmoser in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, to manufacture aluminum foam products at industrial scale. It is an independent private company registered at the Amtsgericht Potsdam under HRB 25961, with share capital of 70,000 euros and a single site. Its managing directors are Friedrich Schuller, who is also identified as COO, and Dr. Max Iann. The company has no listed parent; it shares the Kirchmoser industrial park with other manufacturers but operates on its own account.

Certifications and quality

Havel Metal Foam posts downloadable certificates for DIN EN ISO 9001 (quality management), DIN EN ISO 14001 (environmental management), and DIN EN ISO 3834-3 (quality requirements for fusion welding). For shipbuilding it is working through DNV GL type approval for its SAS 15-2-2 to 50-2-2 products; the company states it has received Module B, covering technical documentation, and is completing Module D, the audited quality-management module. It has also run a DIN EN 12254 laser protection test on an AAS 15-1-1 sandwich, reporting protection levels of 1064nm D AB7 and 10600nm D AB5. The certificate dates are not shown on the web page, so the currency of each cycle is a claim rather than a confirmed date here.

Known customers

Named customer programs are largely absent from the public record, which is normal for a specialist component developer that sells into other companies' assemblies. One application is documented on the company's own site:

Beyond that, the company's development work is tied to the Fraunhofer Institute IWU and to the EU EVERSAFE battery-safety research project. Those are research and development relationships rather than named production customers, and they are described here as such.

Frequently asked questions

What does Havel Metal Foam make?

Havel Metal Foam manufactures aluminum foam and aluminum foam sandwiches under its Havel Lite brand: sandwich panels, foam-filled profiles, 3D shaped elements, and battery boxes for electric vehicles. It supplies lightweight structural components to the automotive, rail, defence, shipbuilding, wind energy, and mechanical engineering sectors.

Who owns Havel Metal Foam?

Havel Metal Foam is an independent private company, Havel metal foam GmbH, registered at the Amtsgericht Potsdam under HRB 25961 with share capital of 70,000 euros. Its managing directors are Friedrich Schuller (COO) and Dr. Max Iann. It has no listed parent company.

Where is Havel Metal Foam located?

Havel Metal Foam is headquartered at Am Maschinenhaus 3, 14774 Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, in the Kirchmoser industrial district. It operates from a single site.

Who are Havel Metal Foam's customers?

Most customer programs are not public, as is typical for a specialist component supplier. The one documented automotive application is an aluminum foam crash absorber used in the luggage-net area of the Audi Q7. The company also co-developed its production technology with the Fraunhofer Institute IWU.

What certifications does Havel Metal Foam hold?

The company posts certificates for DIN EN ISO 9001, DIN EN ISO 14001, and DIN EN ISO 3834-3, and states it has received DNV GL Module B type approval for marine use, with Module D in progress. It has also completed a DIN EN 12254 laser protection test on one of its sandwich products.

When was Havel Metal Foam founded?

Havel Metal Foam was founded in 2013 at the Kirchmoser industrial site in Brandenburg an der Havel. Its aluminum foam production technology was developed together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU).

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.