Dynamic Compression of a SiC Foam

Silicon carbide foam is a material that can be used as reinforcement of interpenetrated composites. This paper presents an analysis of such a foam subjected to low and fast compression. The analysis is performed using the peridynamics (PD) method. This approach allows for an evaluation of failure modes and such effects of microcracks nucleation, their growth, and, finally, fragmentation. Furthermore, the material appears to behave qualitatively and quantitatively differently while subjected to low- and high-speed steel piston movement. Under slow compression case, damage appears in the entire specimen, but the shape of the structure is not changing significantly, whereas during the fast compression the sample is dynamically fragmented.