An Experimental and Analytical Investigation on the Deformation of Inclined Metallic Fibres for Optimized Design of Fibrous Porous Materials

Deformation properties of porous metallic fibre networks are strongly dependent on their architecture, mainly fibre orientation, besides being a function of constituent fibre material and its geometrical parameters. Hence, it is important to comprehend and evaluate the effect of individual fibre orientation and fibre-segment aspect ratio on the mechanical properties of porous metallic fibre networks. To investigate the effect of fibre orientation on its deformation characteristics and to analytically explain the observed mechanical behaviour. Present work captures the deformation of inclined copper fibres (in the range of 0° to 45°), mounted on a novel paper-tab framework, under tensile loading. A 1D analytical model has also been developed to elucidate the inclined fibre deformation and yield characteristics. An increase in fibre inclination angle (from 0° to 45°), exhibits a decreased yield force. The model validates the experiments, and for elastic region establishes that the axial, shear forces and bending moment increase with fibre inclination angle, where the increase in axial force is predominant. The model further establishes the effect of fibre-segment aspect ratio on the yield force of fibre networks and determines that increase in diameter of the fibres has the same effect as decrease in segment length with regards to these forces. The study establishes the effect of fibre inclination angle on the deformation behaviour of porous metallic fibre network materials and can potentially be used to optimise their architecture for targeted applications.