Reconstructed and analyzed X-ray computed tomography data of investment-cast and additive-manufactured aluminum foam for visualizing ligament failure mechanisms and regions of contact during a compression test.

Three stochastic open-cell aluminum foam samples were incrementally compressed and imaged using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT). One of the samples was created using conventional investment casting methods and the other two were replicas of the same foam that were made using laser powder bed fusion. The reconstructed CT data were then examined in Paraview to identify and highlight the types of failure of individual ligaments.