Effect of structure on the creep of open-cell nickel foams

A method of constructing the deformation mechanism maps of open-cell foams is proposed. Starting with the deformation behaviour of the constitutive material and taking account of foam geometry, we are able to determine the dominant deformation mechanisms in the foam as a function of the temperature and the applied-stress. The influences of cell-size, cell-strut shape and scales in the microstructure are studied. The model is applied successfully to the experimental results available for open-cell pure nickel foams.