Constitutive equation and anisotropy of open-cell nickel foams

Abstract

Nickel foam is well suited for battery applications such as in portable computers and mobile phones, and the use of it leads to a considerable increase of the energy density, whereas a high tensile strength is necessary for smooth processing of the foam during the battery production steps like ‘pasting’, calendaring and coiling. In order to understand the mechanical properties of nickel foam, the quasi-static uniaxial tensile tests of open-cell nickel foams with relative density of 0.039 were performed at room temperature. The empirical constitutive equation of this material was established, the anisotropy property of foam was recorded and analyzed. The results show that nickel foams present a significant anisotropic character, and the empirical constitutive equation used can predict quasi-static tensile response of the nickel foams well.

Keywords

nickel foam / constitutive relation / relative density / anisotropy