Fracture of open cell copper foams under tension

Open cell copper foams having an average pore size of 600 μm have been subjected to room temperature tensile tests to explore their tensile properties. Using a state of the art extensometer of non-contact type, foam properties as ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and the Youngʹs modulus (E) have been measured accurately. A state-of-the art extensometer of non-contact type was applied for the first time to help the foamʹs mechanical properties to be determined accurately. The reason behind the usage of this kind of extensometer is to avoid even any small deformation that might be caused by the attachment of conventional extensometer to the sample prior to testing. The function of the extensometer is based on the usage of a laser (CCD) camera that detects and records the dimensional changes as soon as the load is applied. The fracture behavior of foam cells was observed to be ductile. The ductility is attributed to the purity of copper that deforms on 12 slip deformation planes. Complete separation of struts or cell walls took place successively by necking.