Mechanical properties of porous metal materials and their dependence on geometric parameters

By means of material testing systems (MTS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), the mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of several porous copper foams were investigated. The results show that the compression behavior of these materials presents three typical stages, which are elastic stage, plateau stage and densification stage. Their mechanical properties depend on not only the relative density but also the pore size. Meanwhile, the dependence of mechanical properties on the pore size is mainly due to the structural anisotropy.