Large Fracture Strain Research Articles

Ultra-stretchable and self-healable hydrogel driven by sorbitol for flexible strain sensors with anti-freezing and self-adhesive

The hydrogel-based strain sensors have increasingly attracted attention for its flexibility, high transparency and excellent sensitivity. However, poor environmental adaptability (e.g. low temperature) and lack of self-healing limited the scope of the application, resulting reducing practical value. Herein, a Polyacrylamide / Chitosan / D-Sorbitol (PCS) conductive hydrogel that integrated multiple properties has been developed by a facile free radical polymerization. The PCS hydrogel not only possessed high transparency, large fracture strain (2600%) and excellent toughness (1.75 MJ m−3), but also adhesive ability to various interfaces without extra assistance. Furthermore, the crystallization peak of PCS hydrogel was at −25.53 °C by introducing sorbitol as cryoprotectant and it also could respond to stimuli of 1% strain after 24 h at −10 °C. Benefitting from reversible hydrogen bonding interactions, the crack with a knife can be fully repaired in 10 min. Similarly, when assembled into a strain sensor with a high GF of 8.224, it was competent to precisely monitor and recognize both drastic human joint movement and subtle pronunciation signals. This work provided a novel idea for developing flexible electronics with multi-performance.

A probabilistic mean-field and microstructure based finite element modeling for predicting mechanical and ductile fracture behavior of the cast aluminum alloy

A multiscale finite element simulation approach based on the probabilistic mean-field method is proposed to predict the strength and ductile fracture of the cast aluminum (Al) alloy A365-T6. The key microstructural characteristic of the cast alloy is the silicon (Si) particles embedded in the eutectic region of the Al matrix, which represents the inhomogeneous plastic deformation and large fracture strain scatter. Therefore, the theoretical homogenization using the Mori–Tanaka mean-field scheme and the determination of Si particle cracking based on the Weibull distribution function were formulated and implemented in the finite element model with the Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman ductile fracture law. The initial state of voids and Si particles was statistically applied to the finite element model based on experimental measurements. The underlying mechanism of fracture initiation from Si particle cracking and propagation was experimentally analyzed by scanning electron microscopy; thus, the model assumptions can be rationalized. Various tensile specimens, such as simple tension, center hole, notch tension, and in-plane shear, were utilized to experimentally investigate the effect of the stress state on the fracture initiation and validate the simulation results. The effects of macrovoids on the volume fraction and critical location were also investigated, along with those of pre-existing microvoids in the matrix and newly generated voids from Si particle cracking. In conclusion, the proposed microstructure-based multiscale simulation approach predicted the strength, fracture strain, and fracture propagation path under different stress states with reasonable accuracy. Detailed analyses of the microscopic mechanism of ductile fracture in the cast Al alloy in relation to the strain, stress triaxiality, and damage evolution of each phase are also presented.

Highly Conducting and Stretchable Double-Network Hydrogel for Soft Bioelectronics.

Conducting polymer hydrogels are promising materials in soft bioelectronics because of their tissue-like mechanical properties and the capability of electrical interaction with tissues. However, it is challenging to balance electrical conductivity and mechanical stretchability: pure conducting polymer hydrogels are highly conductive, but they are brittle; while incorporating the conducting network with a soft network to form a double network can improve the stretchability, its electrical conductivity significantly decreases. Here, the problem is addressed by concentrating a poorly crosslinked precursor hydrogel with a high content ratio of the conducting polymer to achieve a densified double-network hydrogel (5.5wt% conducting polymer), exhibiting both high electrical conductivity (≈10 S cm-1 ) and a large fracture strain (≈150%), in addition to high biocompatibility, tissue-like softness, low swelling ratio, and desired electrochemical properties for bioelectronics. A surface grafting method is further used to form an adhesive layer on the conducting hydrogel, enabling robust and rapid bonding on the tissues. Furthermore, the proposed hydrogel is applied to show high-quality physiological signal recording and reliable, low-voltage electrical stimulation based on an in vivo rat model. This method provides an ideal strategy for rapid and reliable tissue-device integration with high-quality electrical communications.

Simultaneous enhancement of mechanical and shape memory properties by heat-treatment homogenization of Ti2Ni precipitates in TiNi shape memory alloy fabricated by selective laser melting

• The simultaneous enhancement of mechanical and shape memory properties are obtained by homogenizing Ti 2 Ni precipitates in Ti 50.6 Ni 49.4 SMAs by SLM. • The Ti 50.6 Ni 49.4 SMAs with homogeneous Ti 2 Ni precipitates possesses ultimate tensile strength 880 ± 13 MPa and large fracture strain 22.4 ± 0.4%, circumventing the strength-ductility trade-off of TiNi SMAs by additive manufacturing. • The Ti 50.6 Ni 49.4 SMAs with homogeneous Ti 2 Ni precipitates also displays 5.32% recoverable strain and above 98% recovery rate, far superior to those in most of TiNi SMAs by additive manufacturing reported so far. The excellent shape memory and mechanical properties of TiNi shape memory alloys (SMAs) fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM) are highly desirable for a wide range of critical applications. In this study, we examined the simultaneous enhancement of mechanical and shape memory properties using heat-treatment homogenization of Ti 2 Ni precipitates in a Ti 50.6 Ni 49.4 SMA fabricated using SLM. Specifically, because of the complete solution treatment, nanoscale spherical Ti 2 Ni precipitates were homogeneously dispersed throughout the grain interior. Interestingly, the resultant SMA exhibited an ultrahigh tensile strength of 880 ± 13 MPa, a large elongation of 22.4 ± 0.4%, and an excellent shape memory effect, with a recovery rate of > 98% and ultrahigh recoverable strain of 5.32% after ten loading–unloading cycles. These simultaneously enhanced properties are considerably superior than those of most previously reported TiNi SMAs fabricated using additive manufacturing. Fundamentally, the enhancement in tensile strength is ascribed to precipitation strengthening and work hardening, and the large plasticity is mainly attributed to the homogeneous nanoscale globular Ti 2 Ni precipitates, which effectively impeded the rapid propagation of microcracks. Furthermore, the enhanced shape memory properties are derived from the suppression of dislocation movement and formation of retained stabilized martensite by the presence of high-density dislocations, nanoscale Ti 2 Ni precipitates, and abundant interfaces. The obtained results provide insight into the enhancement of the two types of properties in TiNi SMAs and will accelerate the wider application of SMAs.

Mesh objective simulations of large strain ductile fracture: A new nonlocal Johnson-Cook damage formulation for the Total Lagrangian Material Point Method

We present mesh objective simulations of large strain fracture of metals using a Total Lagrangian Material Point Method. The mesh objectivity is obtained by developing two nonlocal formulations of the well known Johnson-Cook damage criterion: an integral and a gradient enhanced formulation. Unlike previous nonlocal models in which the nonlocal variable is the plastic strain, we adopt the ratio of the plastic strain and the failure strain as the nonlocal variable. Using one simulation we demonstrate that the integral type nonlocal formulation results in incorrect damage initiation (i.e., not at the sample edge but within the sample). We then focus on the gradient enhanced formulation and use it to simulate three common benchmarks for quasi-static large strain ductile fracture of metals and one impact fracture of a metal plate hit by a blunt bullet. All the results exhibit mesh independence and are in good agreement with previous findings and experiments.

Formation, microstructure and mechanical properties of ductile Zr-rich Zr–Cu–Al bulk metallic glass composites

We examined the microstructure, phase stability, mechanical properties and deformation behaviors of cast (Zr0.58Cu0.42)100-xAlx (x = 0, 3, 5, 7, 10) bulk metallic glass composites (BMGCs). With increasing Al content, the glass-forming ability of the new Zr-rich Zr–Cu–Al alloys gradually increases, enabling the fabrication of BMGCs for the alloys containing more than 3 at.% Al. The as-cast structure changes from Cu10Zr7 + CuZr2 for the Al-free base alloy to glass + crystal for the Al-added alloys. The new Zr-rich Zr–Cu–Al BMGCs exhibit a large fracture strain of ∼3.4–7.8% and a high fracture strength of ∼1731–1984 MPa under compression. The compressive fracture strain of Zr-rich Zr–Cu–Al alloys can be explained by the percolation theory. The (Zr0.58Cu0.42)95Al5 composite containing ∼70 vol.% crystalline phase possesses the largest plastic strain of ∼6%, and fracture strength of over 1900 MPa under compressive condition. The superior plastic deformation capability under compression is related to the following factors: (1) The formation of three types of shear bands with distinct morphological characteristics, (2) the plastic deformation of B2–CuZr phase itself, together with stress-induced martensitic transformation from B2–CuZr phase to B19’ phase, and (3) the interaction between crystals and shear bands. The present results have implications for better understanding the deformation mechanisms of the Zr-rich Zr–Cu–Al BMGCs and for designing high-performance BMGCs with enhanced plasticity.

The effect of stress state and strain partition mode on the damage behavior of a Mg-Ca alloy

The ductility of magnesium alloys is greatly affected by damage formation and accumulation. Due to its low-symmetry close-packed hexagonal structure, magnesium alloy's damage behaviors are different from most cubic crystal metals. A comprehensive study was conducted to uncover the underlying damage mechanism of a Mg-0.5%wtCa alloy by using mechanical tests with different stress states, microstructure characterization and the crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM). It is found that the central hole tension has a greater resistance to damage than uniaxial tension, as confirmed by the results of digital image correlation (DIC) measurement and X-ray micro-computed tomography (XCT) characterization. This unusual phenomenon is related to the variation of fracture mechanisms in the two scenarios. For the uniaxial tension, plentiful grain boundary cracks are formed and the fractography shows an intergranular feature; while for the central hole tension, the propensity of intergranular fracture is less evident. Through combining the SEM observations of the boundary cracks and the strain distribution determined by the CPFEM simulation, it is revealed that the boundary cracking is caused by the intense deformation heterogeneity and the large strain gradient. Uniaxial tension has a diffuse deformation mode with the randomly distributed ″soft″ grains and ″hard″ grains. This strain partition mode results in a number of spots with high local strain gradient; these spots serve as the nucleation sites of the grain boundary cracks. The results of the notched tests with different notch radii also show the fact that the localized deformation mode is beneficial than the diffuse one. Therefore, in addition to the stress state, the strain partition mode also plays a vital role in the fracture of the dilute Mg-Ca alloy. Further corroboration was done by a three-bending test with gradient deformation mode. A large fracture strain was obtained in the test, indicating that the magnesium alloy has a potentially good formability when the forming process is reasonably designed.

Nanotwinning and tensile behavior in cold-welded high-entropy-alloy nanowires

Since the fabrication technique for high-entropy alloy (HEA) nanowires/nanopillars is still in its infancy, neither experimental nor modeling analyses of their cold-welding performance have been reported. Based on insights accumulated in our previous experiments and simulations regarding cold-welded metallic nanowires, in this study, the cold-welding performance of HEA nanowires is probed by atomistic simulations. Among different materials, our simulations reveal that extensively twinned structures are formed in CoCrMnFeNi samples, but not in CoCrCuFeNi or Ni samples. The larger fracture strain in certain HEAs is due to the improved ductility around the fracturing area as well as multiple twinning. Unlike in Ni samples, the fracture strains in HEA samples, regardless of being cuboid or cylindrical, are improved by shrinking the sample size. Among different orientations, the [010]-direction monocrystalline nanowires fail at a strain over 0.6, which is almost double that of the [111] direction. The fracture strains in polycrystalline HEA samples are, on average, larger than those in polycrystalline Ni samples. Furthermore, fracture strains in randomly generated polycrystalline HEA samples are more predictable than those in polycrystalline Ni samples with identical grain configurations. As previously reported, dislocation emission is still a prerequisite to fracture in all cold-welded samples.

Deformation and ductile fracture of nanocrystalline gold ultrathin nanoribbon: Width effect

AbstractMolecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the mechanical properties of finite‐width nanocrystalline gold nanoribbons with a thickness of one grain size under tensile strain. We find strong variations in the Young's modulus and flow stress especially for the sample with narrow width. With statistical analysis, Young's modulus has a trend of increase with the decrease of width. Flow stress does not follow this trend. Ductile fracture is observed at large strain in these nanocrystalline nanoribbons, but the fracture strain and mechanism are different from those of thick films as observed in existing experiments. For small widths below 80 nm, fracture is a necking effect, while for larger widths, shear bands and formation of nanovoids due to stress concentration are the main mechanism. Voids are mainly distributed in special GBs that are parallel to the direction of the maximum principal stress of the plastic deformation tensor. We find there is a width regime (about 80–130 nm) for the ultrathin nanoribbon gold, which have good ductility and large fracture strain.

Multifunctional carbon fiber reinforced multilayered metastructure with broadband microwave absorption and effective mechanical resistance

AbstractMetastructure is an innovative structure form to improve broadband microwave absorption. However, without reliable mechanical properties, it is difficult to apply metastructure absorbers in realistic application scenarios. Herein, a multifunctional carbon fiber reinforced multilayered metastructure (CFRMM) is proposed and fabricated through the principles of multiscale design, gradient structure design, and metastructure design. The multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/carbonyl iron (CI)/epoxy resin(EP) nano lossy composite was integrated with the patterned resistive films (PRF) to form a gradient metastructure. Carbon fiber (CF) cloth was incorporated into the structure to enhance mechanical resistance. The CFRMM achieves −10 dB absorption bandwidth in frequency bands of 2‐4.3 GHz and 7.02‐18 GHz with maximum absorption of −17.4 dB. The −9 dB absorption bandwidth was covered in the full band 2‐18 GHz. The CFRMM exhibits excellent mechanical properties with equivalent tensile strength and flexural strength of 75.77 and 408.43 MPa, respectively. The large tensile fracture strain of 24% reveals the good toughness of the metastructure. Broadband microwave absorption and effective load bearing integrated in one structure make the CFRMM more promising for applications in the future.

Atomic Wires of Transition Metal Chalcogenides: A Family of 1D Materials for Flexible Electronics and Spintronics.

As analogues of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, searching for one-dimensional (1D) van der Waals wired materials as 1D Lego blocks for integration and device applications has been pursued. Motivated by the recently synthesized atomic wires of molybdenum chalcogenide, here we explored the structures and stability of 66 atomic wires of 3d, 4d, and 5d transition metal chalcogenides in the M6X6 stoichiometry (M = transition metal, X = chalcogen). After high-throughput first-principles calculations, 53 unprecedented and experimentally feasible M6X6 wires have been identified. Diverse functionalities are found in these 1D materials, including semiconductors, metals, and ferromagnets with high Young’s modulus and large fracture strain. Notably, six kinds of M6X6 wires are robust ferromagnets with Curie temperatures up to 700 K, which can be further elevated under axial strains. Moreover, these M6X6 atomic wires possess high stability and resistance to oxidation, humidity, and aggregation; both merits are desirable for device applications. This large family of 1D materials with definite structures and rich properties allows atomically precise integration for flexible electronics and spintronics.

Achieving high strength and high ductility in WC-reinforced iron-based composites by laser additive manufacturing

Strategies for fabricating iron-based materials with high strength and ductility are rare despite intense research efforts within the last decades. This main challenge, which must be overcome in synthesizing such materials, is described by the strength-ductility trade-off dilemma. This study provides a novel approach to achieve the synthesis of highly strong and ductile iron-based composites reinforced with a high weight fraction of WC particles (20 wt%) utilizing laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) as processing technique. Thereby, the LPBF-fabricated composite material has a multi-phase microstructure consisting of ductile austenite (main phase), highly strong martensite and carbidic precipitations extending across different length-scales. The precipitation of (Fe, W)3C type carbide at the Fe/WC interface is well controlled. Thus, a very thin reaction layer (< 500 nm) forms between the WC particles and iron-based matrix. Additionally, nano-scaled precipitations evolve along sub-grain boundaries and within the sub-grains and they show a high coherency with the iron-based matrix. These iron-based composites synthesized by LPBF show an excellent compressive strength of about 2833 MPa and large fracture strain of about 32 %. The following mechanisms contribute to the improved mechanical properties: (1) multiphase material system, (2) grain refinement, (3) substructures, (4) coherent multiscale interfaces and (5) nano-precipitations.

Experimental full field analysis for dynamic fracture of elastomer membranes

Crack speed prediction in elastomer membranes under large strain (more than 150%) remains a delicate question which necessitates coupled experimental-theoretical investigations. In order to compare experimental results with theoretical approaches but also to improve the understanding of dynamic crack propagation in soft materials, a crucial step is the measurement and analysis of kinematic and energetic fields in the material configuration during dynamic fracture. In this way, the proposed set-up consists in a two-camera set-up in order to perform digital image correlation during both quasi-static loading and dynamic fracture of the sample. The variety of kinematic and energetic fields that can be computed is illustrated. Finally, two studies highlighting the promises of full-field measurements in large strain fracture mechanics are presented: the computation of the dynamic J-integral and the observation of mechanical waves during high speed crack growth in elastomer membranes.

An extended polygonal finite element method for large deformation fracture analysis

The modeling of large deformation fracture mechanics has been a challenging problem regarding the accuracy of numerical methods and their ability to deal with considerable changes in deformations of meshes where having the presence of cracks. This paper further investigates the extended finite element method (XFEM) for the simulation of large strain fracture for hyper-elastic materials, in particular rubber ones. A crucial idea is to use a polygonal mesh to represent space of the present numerical technique in advance, and then a local refinement of structured meshes at the vicinity of the discontinuities is additionally established. Due to differences in the size and type of elements at the boundaries of those two regions, hanging nodes produced in the modified mesh are considered as normal nodes in an arbitrarily polygonal element. Conforming these special elements becomes straightforward by the flexible use of basis functions over polygonal elements. Results of this study are shown through several numerical examples to prove its efficiency and accuracy through comparison with former achievements.

A Comparative Study on the Characterization of Nanofibers with Cellulose I, I/II, and II Polymorphs from Wood.

Polymorphic changes in cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are closely related to their properties and applications, and it is of interest to investigate how polymorphic changes influence their properties. A comparative study on the properties of CNFs with cellulose I, I/II, and II polymorphs from wood was conducted herein. CNFs were obtained by chemical extraction combined with a simple and efficient mechanical treatment (one pass through a grinder). This process resulted in a relatively high yield of 80–85% after a simple grinding treatment. The polymorphic changes in the CNFs and the chemical composition, morphology, tensile performances, and thermal properties were systematically characterized and compared. The X-ray diffraction and FTIR analyses verified the existence of three types of purified pulps and CNFs with cellulose I, cellulose I/II, and cellulose II polymorphs (CNF-I, CNF-I/II, CNF-II). Morphological observations presented that these three types of CNFs all exhibited high aspect ratios and entangled structures. Tensile testing showed that the CNF films all exhibited high tensile strengths, and the fracture strains of the CNF-I/II (11.8%) and CNF-II (13.0%) films were noticeably increased compared to those of the CNF-I film (6.0%). If CNF-II is used as reinforcing material, its larger fracture strain can improve the mechanical performance of the CNF composites, such as fracture toughness and impact strength. In addition, CNF-I, CNF-I/II, and CNF-II films showed very low thermal expansion in the range 20–150 °C, with the coefficient of thermal expansion values of 9.4, 17.1, and 17.3 ppm/K, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that the degradation temperature of CNF-I and CNF-II was greater than that of CNF-I/II, which was likely due to increased α-cellulose content. This comparative study of the characterization of CNF-I, CNF-I/II, and CNF-II provides a theoretical basis for the application of CNFs with different polymorphs and could broaden the applications of CNFs.

A Multi-loading, Climate-Controlled, Stationary ROI Device for In-Situ X-ray CT Hygro-Thermo-Mechanical Testing

In-situ CT mechanical testing yields a full 3D description of a sample material’s behaviour under specific loads. In the literature various devices are proposed which enable in-situ CT hygro-, thermo- or mechanical testing, each with its own merits and limitations. However none of them is able to perform advanced hygro-thermo-mechanical tests on specimens subjected to multiple loading modes, while accurately controlling and measuring the force, displacement, temperature and relative humidity in real time. Therefore, this work proposes an in-situ CT device which allows such multi-faceted experiments. Improvements to the current state-of-the-art devices include: (1) a compact, lightweight and rotationally symmetric design that enables high-resolution CT scans by minimization of wobble during scanning, in practically all lab-scale CT scanners; (2) a stationary region of interest by loading the sample from both sides, which enables high resolution CT characterization of materials exhibiting a large fracture strain; and (3) improved testing modularity by exchanging clamping methods to allow samples of various sizes (e.g., circular or rectangular) to be inserted in a variety of ways, thereby facilitating complex experiments such as three- or four-point bending tests. Validation experiments demonstrate that stringent requirements on CT resolution, loading and displacement accuracy and climate control are met. Furthermore, the in-situ testing capabilities of the device were validated by CT characterization of the creasing and folding process of multi-layer cardboard under varying (controlled) levels of relative humidity and temperature.

On modelling the constitutive and damage behaviour of highly non-linear bio-composites – Mesh sensitivity of the viscoplastic-damage law computations

The large strain fracture of non-linear complex solids concerns a wide range of applications, such as material forming, food oral processing, surgical instrumental penetration as well as more recently, the design of biodegradable composites for packaging and bio-medical use. Although simulations are a powerful tool towards understanding and designing such processes, modelling ductile fracture in materials such as soft natural composites imposes a new challenge, particularly when the fracture patterns cannot be pre-defined. Here we bring to light new information on these aspects of benefit to the multidisciplinary community, by characterising and modelling the deformation and fracture of short cellulose fibre starch extruded composites. Hyperviscoelastic-Mullins damage laws show merits in modelling such complex systems. Yet they are inferior to a viscoplastic-damage law able to capture exactly their highly non-linear, rate dependent and pressure dependent pseudo-plastic stress-strain response. The viscoplastic-damage law also predicts fracture based on experimental toughness values without pre-specifying the crack path in a Finite Element (FE) model, displaying superiority over the conventional cohesive zone approach. Yet, despite using a toughness parameter to drive crack propagation, spurious mesh dependency is still observed while other previously unreported sources of error imposed by the finite element aspect ratio are also highlighted. The latter is rectified by developing a novel numerical strategy for calculating the characteristic element length used in the damage computations. Inherent mesh dependency suggests that non-local damage models may be essential to model this newly investigated class of natural composites.

On modeling the large strain fracture behaviour of soft viscous foods

Mastication is responsible for food breakdown with the aid of saliva in order to form a cohesive viscous mass, known as the bolus. This influences the rate at which the ingested food nutrients are later absorbed into the body, which needs to be controlled to aid in epidemic health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and dyspepsia. The aim of our work is to understand and improve food oral breakdown efficiency in both human and pet foods through developing multi-scale models of oral and gastric processing. The latter has been a challenging task and the available technology may be still immature, as foods usually exhibit a complex viscous, compliant, and tough mechanical behaviour. These are all addressed here through establishing a novel material model calibrated through experiments on starch-based food. It includes a new criterion for the onset of material stiffness degradation, a law for the evolution of degradation governed by the true material’s fracture toughness, and a constitutive stress-strain response, all three being a function of the stress state, i.e., compression, shear, and tension. The material model is used in a finite element analysis which reproduces accurately the food separation patterns under a large strain indentation test, which resembles the boundary conditions applied in chewing. The results lend weight to the new methodology as a powerful tool in understanding how different food structures breakdown and in optimising these structures via parametric analyses to satisfy specific chewing and digestion attributes.

A bulk nanocrystalline Mg–Ti alloy with high thermal stability and strength

Nanocrystalline metals are often strong but with a low thermal stability. In this study, a bulk nanocrystalline Mg-1.5at%Ti alloy with a high thermal stability is successfully fabricated by mechanical alloying and subsequent high-temperature/high-pressure consolidation. The rapid grain growth of nanocrystalline Mg and Mg-1.5at%Ti alloy starts at ∼100°C (0.40 Tm) and 450°C (0.78 Tm), respectively. The high thermal stability of nanocrystalline Mg-1.5at%Ti alloy can be attributed to the segregation of Ti atoms at grain boundaries. The high thermal stability of nanocrystalline Mg-Ti alloy enables us to consolidate the alloy powders at a high temperature of 400°C (0.73 Tm) under a pressure of 4GPa, yielding a bulk nanocrystalline Mg-Ti alloy with a high strength of 202MPa and a large fracture strain of above 0.8.

Production and anisotropic compressibility of 304 stainless steel fiber/ZA8 zinc alloy interpenetrating phase composites

Novel interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) are produced by infiltrating ZA8 zinc alloy into a variety of possible fibrous preforms via squeeze casting. The preform with spatial network structure is fabricated by compaction following with sintering of 304 stainless steel short fibers. The microstructure and compressive properties of IPCs with different fiber fraction and diameter are investigated. Each constituent phase is found to form a completely interconnected three-dimensional network. The structure of the IPC exhibits anisotropy, i.e., most fibers are parallel to radial section and perpendicular to longitudinal section, which results in differences in hardness and compressive behavior. The hardness of radial section is slightly higher than that of longitudinal section; lower compressive strength and larger fracture strain are presented in radial direction at ambient temperature while higher steady stress and maximum flow stress are performed in hot compression deformation. During compression at room temperature, the increasing fiber volume fraction enhances compressive strength and enlarges elastic stage for both directions. In addition, the IPCs exhibit nonlinear elastic behavior. A finer fiber contributes to improve the hardness and compressive strength. It is also found that with increasing strain during compression, the unreinforced zinc alloy continuously increases its stress without taking fracture, where IPC is compressed to collapse after plastic deformation.