Influence of porosity on quasi-static compressive properties of porous metal media fabricated by stainless steel fibers

Porous metal media fabricated by stainless steel fibers were successfully prepared via vacuum sintering technology. Morphology of the porous metal media fabricated by stainless steel fibers was investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy and compressive properties of porous metal media fabricated by stainless steel fibers were studied under quasi-static condition. Compressive mechanism of porous metal media fabricated by stainless steel fibers was analysed in detail. The results indicated that the porous metal media fabricated by stainless steel fibers possess similar compressive behaviors compared with other porous metals. The compression tests show that compressive stress decreases with increasing the porosity of samples. Moreover, the compressive yield strength and unloaded Young’s modulus of the porous metal media fabricated by stainless steel fibers are significantly sensitive to porosity. Plastic collapse stress of the porous metal media increases with decreasing the porosity. Additionally, the relationship between the relative plastic collapse stress and the relative density is in good agreement with Gibson and Ashby equation.