Deformation behavior of open-cell stainless steel foams

The deformation behavior of the metal foams was highly affected by microstructural features, such as closed pores and their distribution throughout the foam specimen. Moreover, the closed pores made a contribution to the plateau stress of the foams through cell face stretching. Strut buckling and bending are the dominant mechanisms in cell collapse. Although there are edge defects on the struts, the struts have an enormous plastic deformation capability. The cell size of the steel foams had no significant effect on the mechanical properties. Due to the inhomogeneities in the microstructure, the measured plateau stresses of the foams showed about 20% scatter at the same relative density.