A Method to Simulate Structural Properties of Cellular Materials for Machining Processes

The application of cellular metals and metal foams is still at the beginning of its development. The evaluation of the surface quality of these materials after machining processes is thus important for implementation in the field of construction. The existing tactile measurements are only capable of indicating both the structure of the material and the influences of machining processes to a limited degree.It is therefore necessary to analyse the structure of materials and to simulate surface parameters analogously to the known parameters of the measuring technology, before a measurement system can be applied.This work presents a method with which to analyse cross-sectional images acquired from computer tomography data as well as specially prepared cellular metal structures.Specialised software enables analysis of these cross-sections and makes statements about the material structures and the influence that mechanical processing has on them. It also facilitates the generation of virtual surface profiles which are essential in comparative studies of the measured surface profiles of machined material.The study will also reveal further analysis options made possible by the software. This includes the possibility of determining the density of analysed material by means of the cross-sections – in other words, a homogeneity analysis of the material structure.