The effect of porosity and pore size on the quasi-static compression properties and energy absorption characteristics of the steel foam was investigated in this paper. The 316L steel foams were prepared through powder metallurgy using urea as the space holder. The macrostructure of steel foam and microstructure of the pore walls were characterized, and the quasi-static compression experiments were conducted on the specimens in the axial direction at a strain rate of 10-3 s-1. The results show that the increase in porosity decreases the yield strength and plastic modulus of the steel foam but increases the densification strain of the steel foam. The yield strength of the steel foam decreases significantly when the pore size is 2.37 mm. However, the pore size has little effect on the plastic modulus. Moreover, the energy absorption per volume of the steel foam decreases with increasing porosity at the same strain. The effect of porosity on energy absorption efficiency is greater than that of pore size.
Keywords: 316L stainless steel; energy absorption; pore size; porosity; quasi-static compression properties; space holder technique; steel foam.