Mechanical Properties of Lightweight Porous Magnesium Processed Through Powder Metallurgy

Porous magnesium (Mg) samples with various overall porosities (28.4 +/- 1.8%, 35.5 +/- 2.5%, 45.4 +/- 1.9%, and 62.4 +/- 2.2%) were processed through powder metallurgy and characterized to study their mechanical properties. Different porosities were obtained by utilizing different mass fractions of space holder camphene. Camphene was removed by sublimation before sintering and contributed to processing porous Mg with high purity and small average pore size. The average pore size increased from 5.2 A mu m to 15.1 A mu m with increase of the porosity from 28.4 +/- 1.8% to 62.4 +/- 2.2%. Compressive strain-stress data showed that the strain hardening rate, yield strength, and ultimate compressive strength decreased with increase of the porosity. The theoretical yield strength of porous Mg obtained using the Gibson-Ashby model agreed with experimental data.