Mechanical behavior of nanoporous Au with fine ligaments

A theoretical model relating the overall mechanical behavior of NP metals to the bending response of thick ligaments is developed based on an idealized regular lattice of massive cubic nodes and thick ligaments with square cross section. The model predictions are compared with the Young's modulus and yield strength of nanoporous Au with ligaments a few nanometers in size obtained by numerical simulation and available in literature. It is shown that the model provides a quantitative description of the elastic and plastic deformation of nanoporous Au, reproducing to a considerable extent the numerically estimated Young's modulus and yield strength values.