Simulation of mechanical performance of nanoporous FCC copper under compression with pores mimicking several crystalline arrays

The mechanical performance of porous metal with assembly of pores mimicking typical crystalline structures is studied via atomistic simulation and finite element method. The pore lattices are made with the same orientation as the face-centered cubic (FCC) copper lattice. The compression is applied in the [0 0 1] direction. Under the same initial porosity and identical pore size, pores assembled in diamond array result in a superior stress response under compression. The sample with pores assembled in body-centered cubic array, whose surface-to-volume ratio is close to that of either FCC or hexagonally close-packed (HCP) array, has a yet much higher yield stress. However, the FCC- and HCP-structured nanoporous samples exhibit a greater hardening effect. The Lubarda model for critical stress to trigger dislocation emission is extended to the nanoporous geometry numerically. The magnitude and distribution of shear stress on the slip plane are found crucial to dislocation activities. No strong correlation between dislocation formation and early densification of nanoporous geometry is found. Through comparing the yielding and hardening behavior among differently structured nanoporous samples, new understanding could be established on their mechanical performance. Enhanced structural integrity could better support their diverse applications by design.