Experimental investigation of mechanical properties of metallic hollow sphere structures

Metallic foam was fabricated from 316L stainless steel spheres, where the bonding of the spheres was achieved by a sintering process. The mechanical behavior of a low-density material (0.3 g/cm(3)) with 2- and 4-mm sphere diameter and a high-density material (0.6 g/cm(3)) with 4-mm sphere diameter was investigated in compression and tension. The cell wall material of this hollow sphere structure (HSS) had different morphologies: dense and porous sintered walls were investigated. The cell wall morphology affects the Young's modulus (stiffness) and the ductility of the HSS material. Defects, such as the cell wall porosity, lower the ductility of the material. Besides the quasi-static measurements, the HSS material was tested with a resonance frequency method (dynamic measurement), to obtain detailed information on the stiffness at different temperatures up to 700 degrees C. In-situ compression and tension tests were carried out to understand the deformation mechanisms on the scale of the single hollow spheres. The failure mechanisms in the vicinity of the sintering neck of the spheres was investigated. A doubling of the density leads to an increase of the plateau stress and the ultimate tensile stress of the material, whereas the ductility (strain to fracture) depended mainly on the cell wall morphology. Due to the mainly tensile loading of the cell walls in the vicinity of the sinter neck, the ultimate tensile strength doubled for the high-density HSS, in good agreement with theoretical considerations. In compression, the gain in the plateau stress was not as distinctive compared with the theoretical considerations assuming a bending dominated deformation. The influence of structural parameters, such as cell wall morphology, cell wall thickness, and sphere diameter, on the mechanical behavior is discussed.