Study of Al-Alloy Foam Compressive Behavior Based on Instrumented Sharp Indentation Technology

The stress-strain relation of aluminum (Al) alloy foam cell wall was evaluated by the instrumented sharp indentation method. The indentation in a few micron ranges was performed on the cell wall of Al-alloy foam having a composition or Al-3wt.%Si-2wt.%Cu-2wt.%Mg as well as its precursor (material prior to foaming). To extract the stress-stram relation in terms of yield stress ${\sigma}_y$, strain hardening exponent n and elastic modulus E, the closed-form dimensionless relationships between load-indentation depth curve and elasto-plastic property were used. The tensile properties of precursor material of Al-alloy foam were also measured independently by uni-axial tensile test. In order to verify the validity of the extracted stress-strain relation, it was compared with the results of tensile test and finite element (FE) analysis. A modified cubic-spherical lattice model was proposed to analyze the compressive behavior of the Al-alloy foam. The material parameters extracted by the instrumented nanoindentation method allowed the model to predict the compressive behavior of the Al-alloy foam accurately.