Fracture of Open-Cell Nickel Foams Under Quasi-Static Tensile Loading

Open-cell nickel foams with average pore size of 600 μm have been subjected to room temperature tensile tests to explore their tensile properties. Using a state of the art extensometer of noncontact type, foam properties as ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and the Young’s modulus (E) have been measured accurately. The reason behind the usage of this kind of extensometer is to avoid completely any minor deformation that might be caused by the attachment of conventional extensometer to the sample’s surface prior to testing. The function of this extensometer is based on the usage of a laser (CCD) camera that detects and records the dimensional changes as soon as the load is applied. A series of cyclic loading-unloading tests was performed to determine the foam’s Young’s modulus. The fracture behavior of foam cells was observed to be ductile. Complete separation of struts or cell walls took place successively by necking.