Spherical indentation method to measure the mechanical properties of metallic foams

The possibility of using a simple spherical indentation method to measure the averaged mechanical properties of metallic foams is investigated in this paper. First, the authors numerically validated that the Oliver–Pharr method can be applied to measure the elastic modulus of metallic foams through a spherical indentation test with very satisfactory accuracy. Compared to solid metals, metallic foams can deform plastically under hydrostatic loading and this special plastic behaviour can be quantified mathematically by a parameter, the so called shape factor. In this paper, the authors present a simple indentation test method to calibrate the shape factor for metallic foam.