Open-cell cellular solids: A constitutive equation for hyperelasticity with deformation induced anisotropy

A constitutive theory is developed for an open-cell flexible cellular solid consisting of a network of struts each connecting two vertex points. A hypothesis is proposed that vertex points move affinely in the large-deformation regime, when the struts buckle, and that the force carried by a strut is a function of the longitudinal and rotational change of its vertex-to-vertex vector. The forces consist of one longitudinal force, parallel with the vertex-to-vertex vector of the strut and one transverse force. The overall stress response is initially dominated by the longitudinal force whilst the addition of the transverse force becomes significant at large deformations. The model contains three parameters: longitudinal stiffness, bending stiffness and critical stretch of a strut. These three parameters are calibrated against a simple compression test. The model is then validated against independent experiments in a simple tension, simple shear and a combined shear-compression test on an isotropic flexible polyether urethane foam. Excellent agreement is obtained between the experiments and the model.     

Effects of microstructure on uniaxial strength asymmetry of open-cell foams

Based on the elongated Kelvin model, the effect of microstructure on the uniaxial strength asymmetry of open-cell foams is investigated. The results indicate that this asymmetry depends on the relative density, the solid material, the cell morphology, and the strut geometry of open-cell foams. Even though the solid material has the same tensile and compressive strength, the tensile and compressive strength of open-cell foams with asymmetrical sectional struts are still different. In addition, with the increasing degree of anisotropy, the uniaxial strength as well as the strength asymmetry increases in the rise direction but reduces in the transverse direction. Moreover, the plastic collapse ratio between two directions is verified to depend mainly on the cell morphology. The predicted results are compared with Gibson and Ashby''s theoretical results as well as the experimental data reported in the literature, which validates that the elongated Kelvin model is accurate in explaining the strength asymmetry presented in realistic open-cell foams.     

Impact of material processing and deformation on cell morphology and mechanical behavior of polyurethane and nickel foams

The cell morphology and mechanical behavior of open-cell polyurethane and nickel foams are investigated by means of combined 3D X-ray micro-tomography and large scale finite element simulations. Our quantitative 3D image analysis and finite element simulations demonstrate that the strongly anisotropic tensile behavior of nickel foams is due to the cell anisotropy induced by the deformation of PU precursor during the electroplating and heat treatment stages of nickel foam processing. In situ tensile tests on PU foams reveal that the initial main elongation axis of the cells evolves from the foam sheet normal direction to the rolling direction of the coils. Finite element simulations of the hyperelastic behavior of PU foams based on real cell morphology confirm the observation that cell struts do not experience significant elongation after 0.15 tensile straining, thus pointing out alternative deformation mechanisms like complex strut junctions deformation. The plastic behavior and the anisotropy of nickel foams are then satisfactorily retrieved from finite element simulations on a volume element containing eight cells with a detailed mesh of all the hollow struts and junctions. The experimental and computational strategy is considered as a first step toward optimization of process parameters to tailor anisotropy of cell shape and mechanical behavior for applications in batteries or Diesel particulate filtering.     

Geometrical modelling of foam structures using implicit functions

Mechanical, thermo-mechanical, and fluid dynamic simulations of open-cell foams require an accurate geometry model. Usually, models are derived from computer- tomography (CT) data which do not allow analysing systematically variation and optimisation of the geometry. On the other hand, entirely computer generated models are mostly assembled of primitive objects like cylinders. This disregards strut thickness variations and node rounding which are observed in real open-cell foams. This paper presents an approach to generate models of ceramic open-cell foams using simple objects with variable thickness generated by implicit functions. This approach can also account for cavities within struts and nodes, which are observed in many real foam structures. The specific rounding at the foam nodes can be modelled by applying the transformation of Blinn. The quality of the generated foam models is verified using CT data of real foams.     

Localized buckling in sandwich struts with pre-existing delaminations and geometrical imperfections

A recent model for the nonlinear structural response of compression sandwich struts is developed further to account for pre-existing face-core delaminations and initial imperfections in the strut geometry. Whilst the pre-existing delaminations only take effect after the critical bifurcation for overall (Euler) buckling, it is found that the secondary instability associated with localized buckling occurs earlier than for the initially perfectly bonded strut. More severe instabilities can also be promoted by superimposing geometric imperfections. In combination with delamination, the practical structural response can be highly unstable.     

The microstructural origin of strain hardening in two-dimensional open-cell metal foams

This paper aims at elucidating the microstructural origin of strain hardening in open-cell metal foams. We have developed a multiscale model that allows to study the development of plasticity at two length scales: (i) the development of plastic zones inside individual struts (microscopic scale) and (ii) the formation of plastic localization bands at the scale of the cellular architecture (mesoscopic scale). We address how plasticity at both scales contribute to the macroscopic yielding and strain hardening of cellular metals. One of the important results is that, in contrast to strain hardening in dense metals, strain hardening in cellular metals consist of a synergistic contribution of two sources: (i) strain hardening of the solid material (microscopic scale) and (ii) geometric hardening due to strut reorientation (mesoscopic scale). We show that the synergy of the two leads to an enhanced macroscopic hardening capacity. Our results are in qualitative agreement with experimental studies and elucidate the microstructural origin of plastic hardening in this class of materials.     

Tensile failure of two-dimensional quasi-brittle foams

Stress redistribution caused by damage onset and the subsequent local softening plays an important role in determining the ultimate tensile strength of a cellular structure. The formation of damage process zones with struts dissipating a finite amount of fracture energy will require the macroscopic stress to be increased in order to continue structural damage. The goal of this paper is to investigate the influence of the fracture energy of the solid on the tensile fracture strength and the strain to fracture in quasi-brittle two-dimensional foams using a microstructural model. We analyze the mesoscopic damage and failure mechanisms in uniaxial tension. Relative density, strut cross-sectional profile, solid’s fracture strain, and fracture energy are varied systematically. The effect of the specific fracture energy on the peak behavior has been shown to be captured by the ratio of the fracture energy to the stored elastic energy. We have also explored the net section strength variation in the presence of a central crack at two different fracture energies. Comparison is made between two structurally identical quasi-brittle and ductile strain hardening foams to identify the differences in the damage mechanisms.     

Southwell and lundquist plots for struts suffering subbuckling cyclic excursions

An experimental investigation into the effects of subbuckling low-frequency cyclic hysteresis upon a range of imperfection-sensitive circular hollow section struts has involved a novel application of the Southwell and Lundquist semi-empirical plot procedures. A static strut testing procedure was modified to provide for the inclusion of cyclic action phases, these cyclic excursions possessing amplitudes that constrained behavior to the subbuckling compression regime throughout. Cyclic action was introduced at some prescribed static axial compression, buckling being statically induced upon completion of the cyclic action phase. For each strut test, appropriate semi-empirical plots were determined, where possible, for both pre- and post-cyclic action phase static data sets, each successful plot thereby consisting of a respective pair of linear loci. It is deemed that such bilinear loci be parallel, indicating no change in boundary conditions or effective length, but offset, indicating cyclic hysteresis amplification of any initial strut imperfection. This bilinear technique is shown to be particularly useful in assessing quality of experimentation and in providing imperfection data applicable to the analysis of nominally static struts suffering subbuckling cyclic action. Design implications are briefly identified for completeness. Serviceability considerations are shown to be the dominant issue.     

Analytical models for the mechanical behavior of closed and open-cell Al foams

Two 3D analytical models are proposed for the determination of mechanical properties of Al closed and open-cell foams under compression load. The first model, referring to closed cell foams, is symmetrical, considering ellipsoid cells equally arranged in a rectangular plate, whereas the second one, related to open-cell foams, consists of a simple unit parallelepiped cell.The closed cell model produces much higher values of the plateau stress than comparable experimental results, mainly due to the associated conditions of symmetry, contrary to the open-cell model which yields values close to experimental and theoretical results of other investigators. Additionally, in the latter case, a unit cubic cell is also considered for comparison reasons. Both models are solved by the finite element method using a commercial program. The open-cell model is simple, time sparing and easy to use. Finally, a fracture analysis of the model is conducted based on the energy density concept and results are given for distortion and dilatational effects.     

Simulation of the densification of real open-celled foam microstructures

Ubiquitous in nature and finding applications in engineering systems, cellular solids are an increasingly important class of materials. Foams are an important subclass of cellular solids with applications as packing materials and energy absorbers due to their unique properties. A better understanding of foam mechanical properties and their dependence on microstructural details would facilitate manufacture of tailored materials and development of constitutive models for their bulk response. Numerical simulation of these materials, while offering great promise toward furthering understanding, has also served to convincingly demonstrate the inherent complexity and associated modeling challenges.The large range of deformations which foams are subjected to in routine engineering applications is a fundamental source of complication in modeling the details of foam deformation on the scale of foam struts. It requires accurate handling of large material deformations and complex contact mechanics, both well established numerical challenges. A further complication is the replication of complex foam microstructure geometry in numerical simulations. Here various advantages of certain particle methods, in particular their compatibility with the determination of three-dimensional geometry via X-ray microtomography, are exploited to simulate the compression of “real” foam microstructures into densification. With attention paid to representative volume element size, predictions are made regarding bulk response, dynamic effects, and deformed microstructural character, for real polymeric, open-cell foams. These predictions include a negative Poisson's ratio in the stress plateau, and increased difficulty in removing residual porosity during densification.     

Modeling the dynamic response of visco-elastic open-cell foams

This article introduces a mesoscopic formulation for modeling the dynamic response of visco-elastic, open-cell solid foams. The effective material response is obtained by enforcing on a representative 3D unit cell the principle of minimum action for dissipative systems. The resulting model accounts explicitly for the foam topology, the elastic and viscous properties of the cell wall, and the inertial effects arising from non-affine motion within the cells. The microinertial effects become significant in retarding the foam collapse during exceedingly high strain-rate loading. As an application example, a heterogenous case of compressive deformation at high strain rate is simulated utilizing the present model as a constitutive update in a non-linear finite element analysis code. This FEM simulation shows the ability of the model to capture the progressive foam collapse during the dynamic compression as observed in experimental studies. Using the microscopic model, the inertial and viscous strain-rate effects are investigated through the foam density, viscosity, and relative density. Based on the physics incorporated into the local cell model, we provide insight into the physical mechanisms responsible for the experimentally observed strain-rate effects on the behavior of dynamically loaded foam materials.     

Fracture toughness of open-cell Kelvin foam

Brittle fracture behavior of a perfect open-cell Kelvin foam is considered. The foam is modeled as a spatial lattice consisting of brittle elastic struts rigidly connected to each other at the nodal points. The fracture toughness is determined from the analysis of a quasi-plane problem for a slice of the foam with an embedded finite length crack generated by broken struts. The crack plane is chosen on the basis of a previous study of crack nucleation phenomenon, and the crack length, which assures the self-similar K-field in the tip vicinity, is established by numerical experiments. For the considered densities range the crack includes several hundreds of broken struts and, consequently, the portion of the foam to be considered in the analysis has a very large number of nodal degrees of freedom. The computational cost is reduced significantly by using for the analysis the representative cell method based on the discrete Fourier transform. As a result, the initial problem for the foam slice is reduced to the problem for the repetitive cell which includes 12 struts.     

闭孔泡沫铝材料十四面体模型的改进

基于对闭孔泡沫铝发泡过程更为合理的假设,提出了描述胞体结构的改进的十四面体模型,使之可以反映密度增大时质量集中于支柱和顶点的情况。采用有限元方法及耦合边界条件,研究了闭孔泡沫铝的相对弹性模量、泊松比等弹性特征与胞体参数的关系,给出了拟合的弹性模量的计算公式,并对模型在弹性压缩变形下应力分布进行了分析。通过与已有模型的比较表明,改进模型可以较好地模拟闭孔泡沫铝材料的弹性性能。     

Scaling laws of nanoporous gold under uniaxial compression: Effects of structural disorder on the solid fraction,elastic Poisson's ratio,Young's modulus and yield strength

In this work the relationship between the structural disorder and the macroscopic mechanical behavior of nanoporous gold under uniaxial compression was investigated, using the finite element method. A recently proposed model based on a microstructure consisting of four-coordinated spherical nodes interconnected by cylindrical struts, whose node positions are randomly displaced from the lattice points of a diamond cubic lattice, was extended. This was done by including the increased density as result of the introduced structural disorder. Scaling equations for the elastic Poisson's ratio, the Young's modulus and the yield strength were determined as functions of the structural disorder and the solid fraction. The extended model was applied to identify the elastic–plastic behavior of the solid phase of nanoporous gold. It was found, that the elastic Poisson's ratio provides a robust basis for the calibration of the structural disorder. Based on this approach, a systematic study of the size effect on the yield strength was performed and the results were compared to experimental data provided in literature. An excellent agreement with recently published results for polymer infiltrated samples of nanoporous gold with varying ligament size was found.     

An energy-based anisotropic yield criterion for cellular solids and validation by biaxial FE simulations

The initial yield surface of 2D lattice materials is investigated under biaxial loading using finite element analyses as well as by analytical means. The sensitivity of initial yield surface to the dominant deformation mode is explored by using both low- and high-connectivity topologies whose dominant deformation mode is either local bending or strut stretching, respectively. The effect of microstructural irregularity on the initial yield surface is also examined for both topologies. A pressure-dependent anisotropic yield criterion, which is based on total elastic strain energy density, is proposed for 2D lattice structures, which can be easily extended for application to 3D cellular solids. Proposed criterion uses elastic constants and yield strengths under uniaxial loading, and does not rely on any arbitrary parameter. The analytical framework developed allows the introduction of new scalar measures of characteristic stresses and strains that are capable of representing the elastic response of anisotropic materials with a single elastic master line under multiaxial loading.     

Multi-scale modeling of the mechanical response of plain weave composites and cellular solids

Multi-component materials with customized mechanical properties, such as textile composites and sandwich materials (cellular core with metallic or composite skin), show a great prospective for use in aerostructures. Understanding of the mechanical response of these materials is still in progress. In the present paper, the tensile response of plain weave composites as well as the compressive response of cellular solids are investigated using a multi-scale damage model. The model, implemented by means of the FE method, is based on homogenized progressive damage modeling of a representative unit-cell. Four failure modes have been considered in the failure analysis of the tows, while material property degradation was performed using a damage mechanics approach which takes into account strain softening. For the cellular solids, two different types of FE models were considered namely, a beam model and a shell model. Failure analysis and material property degradation of the struts were integrated into a bilinear material model. Simulations show a non-linear tensile response of the plain weave mainly attributed to matrix cracking and shear failures occurring at warp tows and resin-rich areas. For the cellular solid, preliminary elastic analyses show a customizability of the normal stiffness with regard to strut’s dimensions.     

On the transverse compression response of Kevlar KM2 using fiber-level finite element model

Flexible textile composites like woven Kevlar fabrics are widely used in high velocity impact (HVI) applications. Upon HVI they are subjected to both longitudinal tensile and transverse compressive loads. To understand the role of transverse properties, the single fiber and tow transverse compression response (SFTCR and TTCR) of Kevlar KM2 fibers are numerically analyzed using plane strain finite element (FE) models. A finite strain formulation with a minimum number of 84 finite elements is determined to be required for the fiber cross section to capture the finite strain SFTCR through a mesh convergence study. Comparison of converged numerical solution to the experimental results indicates the dominant role of geometric stiffening at finite strains due to growth in contact width. The TTCR is studied using a fiber length scale FE model of a single tow comprised of 400 fibers transversely loaded between rigid platens. This study along with micrographs of yarn after mechanical compaction illustrates fiber spreading and fiber–fiber contact friction interactions are important deformation mechanisms at finite strains. The TTCR is also studied using homogenized yarn level models with properties from the literature. Comparison of TTCR between fiber length scale and homogenized yarn length scale models indicate the need for a nonlinear material model for homogenized approaches to accurately predict the transverse compression response of the fabrics.