Creep behavior of a closed-cell aluminum foam

The results of creep tests on a closed-cell aluminum foam (Alporas) are reported. At low stresses and temperatures, the behavior is well described by existing models for foams. At high stresses and temperatures, the power law creep exponent increases from about 4 to 15 and the activation energy increases from about 100 to 450 kJ/mol. The increase in power law exponent may be related to damage; a finite element damage model of a two-dimensional honeycomb gives consistent results with the measured foam behavior. (C) 1999 Acta Metallurgica Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. AII rights reserved.