Size effects in ductile cellular solids. Part I: modeling

In the mechanical testing of metallic foams,. an important issue is the eff ect of the specimen size, relative to the cell size, on the measured proper ties. Here we analyze size effects for the modulus and strength of regular, hexagonal honeycombs under uniaxial and shear loadings. Size effects for i ndentation of a honeycomb are evaluated using finite element analysis. Fina lly, the results for honeycombs are extrapolated to foams. The results are compared with data for metallic foams in the following, companion paper. (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.