Image-guided failure assessment of porous materials

摘要

Lightweight metallic cellular materials have the potential for use in composite structures such as plates, shells, and tubes. In order to evaluate the suefulness of these porous materials, an understanding of their failure mechanisms is essential. We have developed a technique celled image-guided failure assessment that allows for the 3-dimensional analysis of fracture initiation and progression on the microscopic level. The technique has already been used to study trabecular bone failure, and the objective of this study was to use the technique to study porous aluminum alloys. Image-guided assessment involves the use of a novel micro-compession device to apply and maintain lads, and the use of micro-computed tomography, providing 68 mu m isotropic resolution in this application, to image the specimens. Specimens were compressed and imaged at intervals of increasing strain (0