Uniaxial deformation of microcellular metals: model systems and simplified analysis

Microcellular aluminium can be produced by a process known as replication; this involves the infiltration of a packed bed of NaCl particles which are subsequently leached after metal solidification. The resulting material features a uniform distribution of equisized pores, the shape and volume fraction of which call be tailored, as can the composition and microstructure of the metal making the resulting metal "sponges". These display a regular uniaxial stress-strain behaviour, at both room and elevated temperature, which is interpreted using standard composite models for Young's modulus Coupled with variational predictions for non-linear deformation of two-phase composites by Ponte-Castaneda and Suquet, adapted and simplified for the specific case at hand.