Morphology influence on elastic deformation behaviour of high porous ceramics. Experimental and phenomenological model predictions

Porous ceramics based on clay powders have been fabricated resulting in an open-cells structure. High porosity, measured between 46 and 96%, has been correlated with effective Young's modulus obtained by mechanical tests. However, it is worth noting that pore fraction is not the only physical feature which has to be taken into account to understand the elastic behaviour. SEM inspections show morphologies composed by ligaments and mass agglomerations which can influence mechanical response of these structures. In this sense, a statistical estimation of characteristics lengths of structural elements has been performed in order to calculate Young's modulus by using a modified tetrakaidecahedral phenomenological model. Moreover, the proposed approach is capable of taking into account shear effect owing to ligaments thickness usually ignored by beam theory. A comparison between experimental and computed data is in good agreement.