Metal foams and their applications are of interest in the area of research and development. They benefit from high stiffness in combination with low density, high energy absorption capacity and good damping properties, which are optimal conditions for light weight constructions, crash elements or vibration damping. Fields of application are for instance: aerospace, automotive, battery technology and orthopedics.

Due to the manufacturing process, metal foams demonstrate imperfections and thus fluctuations in material properties that ultimately lead to computational challenges for precise failure and lifetime prediction. Therefore, the aim of this research is developing a suitable efficient method for structural reliability analysis with probability boxes (p-boxes) using model hierarchies, which combine cheap, approximate surrogate models with an expensive, accurate high-fidelity model.

Contact: Prof. C. Proppe, J. Kaupp