Response of open cell aluminum foams to fully reversed cyclic loading

The response of metal foams to fully reversed cyclic loading has been investigated much less than the response to tension-tension and compression-compression cyclic loads. This paper describes tests of open cell aluminum foams that are subjected to fully reversed cyclic loading. Three different damage measures are evaluated as candidates for tracking the damage state in the material. These measures and associated failure criteria track the peak tensile stress, the peak compressive stress, and the ratio of the prepeak tensile and compressive material stiffnesses in each cycle. The peak tensile stress measure and criterion gave the most stable results. Finally, the fatigue lifetime is modeled by using a statistical Weibull model.