<p>The casting of Al (A356) syntactic foams with recycled expanded glass spheres has been carried out using a custom-made steel mold. The vibration motor was integrated into the mold to investigate the influence of the vibration on the microstructure, corrosion, and mechanical properties. Vibration increased the SDAS (Secondary dendrite arm spacing) and eutectic Si size on the micro-scale. The strength and hardness of the foams were increased. Furthermore, vibration improved the corrosion resistance of the matrix material by 1.3 times compared to non-vibrated cast foams. The distribution of the glass spheres was also influenced by vibration: (i) Density-graded structure observed in vibration-assisted casting, (ii) homogenous distribution was found in the non-vibrated cast foam. The distribution of the sphere particles in the structure dominated the deformation mode: A layer-by-layer deformation occurred in the vibrated samples, and a diagonal fracture was observed in the non-vibrated samples. In conclusion, the vibration heavily influenced the meso–micro-structures and improved the mechanical and corrosion properties.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>