The computer-aided design of individual parts and the desire for weight reduction and material savings require further development of new hybrid materials. Ni/PU hybrid foams as a new hybrid material offer great potential for the production of components that are lightweight and yet can absorb large amounts of energy. The development of this structured material is at its beginning and mechanical characterisation on all scales is necessary. Experimental investigations on individual struts must be carried out on the micro scale to understand the structure-properties-relationship. Inspite of the challenges raising due to the complex geometry of the struts, tensile tests, three-point bending tests and micro sections are presented in this work. Due to the stiff Ni coating on the outer diameter of the struts, the resistance against bending is around five times as high as against tensile loading. The correlation between the behaviour of the struts and the macroscopic material behaviour validates the planned use of the foams as energy absorbers.
Keywords: digital image correlation; experimental mechanics; hyrid foams; microbending; micromechanical testing; microtensile; open-cell foams.