Structural Analysis on Anisotropic Deformation Properties of Highly Porous Aluminum Material

The cell-structure of highly porous aluminum material prepared by foaming of aluminum alloy melt with titanium hydride was investigated nondestructively with fine-focus X-ray 3D-CT at several interrupt steps during slow compressive deformation. The foamed highly porous aluminum has anisotropic shape of each cell inevitably because of gravity force during solidification of foamed material and mechanical properties especially the dependence on the deformation direction of highly porous aluminum is analyzed well from the size and shape of each void composing the porous material. The statistic anisotropic distribution of these form factors such as three axial lengths and directions at the time of ellipsoidal approximation of each cell was found to be less important to improve the mechanical properties of this type of material.