Non-linear behaviour of open-cell metal foam under tensile loading

Metal foams are used extensively in civil and mechanical engineering applications. However the behaviuor of metal foams under various loading conditions are not well understood. Therefore this study investigates nonlinear behaviour of metal foams under tensile loading using finite element method. The metal foams were modelled using the available Abaqus finite element formulation. Previous experimental results of uniaxial tension behaviour of metal foams were taken to validate the numerical results. In particular, the stress-strain variations were obtained from the numerical model and compared with the experimental results. Agreeable match between experimental and numerical was found.