Computational modeling of micro-cellular carbon foams

Similar to other cellular solids, the topology of carbon foam structures affects almost all of the mechanical and thermal properties which are superior to those of many materials. In order to evaluate the mechanical properties as well as thermal properties correctly, random based foam structure must be modeled close to real 3-D foam geometry as much as possible. In this paper, 3-D geometry of micro-cellular carbon foam is modeled in computer aided design (CAD) environment by using special scripts written for capturing real topology of carbon foams. Then, finite element stress analyses are carried out to obtain effective mechanical properties such as compressive Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio. It is shown that finite element results are in close agreement with the results in literature. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.