Investigation on the Compressive Behavior of Steel Foams Manufactured by Powder Metallurgy Route

Metallic foams and cellular metals are a type of new-advanced engineering materials which can be successfully used in various industrial applications due to their unique behavior and properties. In this work, steel foams were produced through powder metallurgy route using urea granules as a space holder, and porosity percentage, microstructure, and compressive behavior of them were investigated. In addition, the compressive behavior of manufactured foams was simulated using finite element method by the Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman model and the effects of operational parameters in this model were investigated due to better prediction of mechanical behavior of steel foams. The results indicated that the average of porosity in the steel foam is 79.3 percent, which consists of cells formed by the dissolution of urea granules and remained pores between the sintered iron particles. Stress vs. strain curves of the manufactured steel foams showed the conventional behavior of metal foams, with elastic deformation region and a relatively longitudinal plateau region and, a fracture point, finally. Mesh sizes, fn, q1 and q2 have the significant effect on stress vs. strain curves, but q1 and fn have the most and the least effects, respectively.