On the nonlinear mechanical behavior of macroporous cellular ceramics under bending

This work presents the results of an experimental work on the mechanical behavior under bending of Si–SiC reticulated foams. Particularly it is here studied a transient regime after their linear elastic behavior and before their catastrophic failure. During this regime part of the mechanical work is dissipated by local struts failure. This behavior is interesting because, if well understood, could give important information on the prediction of reticulated ceramics’ life time. Besides load cell and deflection readings, acoustical emission and electrical resistance were also recorded during the tests. Data were further processed using Weibull statistics.Resultsevidence that the duration and effects of this regime strongly depend on ligaments’ microstructure and thus on the manufacturing technique. A correlation with the average acoustical events per sample and the Weibull modulus is also evidenced.