Highly Porous Cellular Metals and Ceramics: Thermo-Mechanical Properties

Porous cellular metals and ceramics are now being intensively studied. This has arisen partly from a growing appreciation that bio-materials must be thoroughly understood, not only to exploit them effectively, but also to develop bio-mimetic materials with attractive properties and biocompatible materials and structures. Since many natural and biological materials are cellular, often with relatively high porosity levels (although sometimes these pores are at least partly filled with a fluid or a soft and compliant solid in the natural state), study of manufactured porous materials has become an important branch of materials science. In fact, various types of porous material quite different from any biological system are also being heavily investigated. Furthermore, certain well-established areas of porous material usage, such as filters, catalyst supports, heat exchangers etc, are being subjected to renewed scrutiny, as novel porous materials and structures are developed. This chapter will discuss the thermo-mechanical properties of highly porous cellular metals and ceramics