The influence of the measurement parameters on the crushing strength of reticulated ceramic foams

The crushing strength or compression strength is a fundamental mechanical property for reticulated ceramic foams. There are essential influencing variables such as the rate of the applied load, the size of the applied load area, the sample size, and the strut homogeneity of the samples. In this work, the impact of the variation of the testing parameters on the crushing strength measurement was evaluated with the help of industrially produced ceramic foams made of Al2O3, ZrO2, SiC, and fused silica. The results indicate that the rate of the applied load has no significant influence on the crushing strength of the ceramic foams. Whereas the size of the applied load area and the sample size have an evident influence. The experimental results were compared with the minimum principal stress distribution calculated with FEM.