EFFECT OF POROSITY CONTENT ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF POROUS MATERIALS

A theory that takes into account the stress-concentrating effect of the pores in porous materials is proposed. Upper and lower limits between which the strengths of porous materials must lie are predicted. A pore-sensitivity factor is defined and, assuming that this is proportional to the fractional porosity, an equation is derived which describes the variation in relative strength with porosity content and which empirically can take account of the matrix ductility. The equation is shown to agree well with published experimental data.