Manufacture technology and anisotropic behaviour of elastic-porous metal rubber

Abstract

As a novel lightweight metallic material, elastic-porous metal rubber (EPMR) also known as entangled wire mesh or wire washer can be used for vibration damping elements in extreme environments where traditional polymer rubbers deteriorate or become in effective. In this paper, the process chains of two main typical manufacture technologies including entangled and knitted wire mesh for EPMR are introduced. Quasi-static and dynamic properties of EPMR are highly nonlinear and addressed due to the intertwined microstructure consists of coiled metal wires that are compressed together. The experimental results of mechanical tests indicate that the anisotropic behaviours of EPMR are conspicuous and should be considered for property prediction and engineering application. This work also attempts to explain the physical mechanism of anisotropy through the diversity of contact behaviours of coiled wires along forming and non-forming directions, which can be macroscopically characterized by quasi-static and dynamic mechanical tests.