Fracture of Metal Foams: A Discrete Modelling Approach

A discrete model based on two-dimensional Voronoi tessellation has been used to study damage and fracture in open-cell metal foams. The present study focuses on elastic-fracture behaviour of the foam. A competition mechanism among various damaging struts leading to damage localization and formation of a fracture band has been observed. The effect of relative density is presented in terms of scaling relationships for the peak stress and peak strain are presented here. Finally the detrimental effect of the effect of the presence of the precipitates will be studied as well, showing a severe knock-down in the strength and ductility.