Influence of Density on the Compressive Properties in Porous Copper Produced by Spacer Method

Porous copper specimens with relative densities of 0.22–0.96 were produced by spacer method and their compressive properties were investigated. In the low relative density range (relative density < 0.5–0.6), porous copper showed a density exponent n of 2.3, where n represents the relative density dependence of yield strength. In this range, the bending and buckling of cell walls and the formation of macroscopic deformation bands were observed. On the other hand, porous copper with a higher relative density (0.5–0.6 < relative density < 0.9–1) had an n value of approximately 1, where the dominant deformation mode of cell walls was yielding and no clear deformation band was observed. Also, in the highest relative density range (relative density is very close to 1), the compressive properties degraded markedly with decreasing density, indicating that stress concentration around the minimal pores occurred in this density range.