Datasets for structural and mechanical properties of nanoporous networks from FIB reconstruction

This dataset paper presents a comprehensive archive of 3D tomographic reconstruction image files, volume mesh files for finite element simulations, and tabulated structural and mechanical properties data of nanoporous gold structures. The base material is nanoporous gold, fabricated using a dealloying process, with a solid fraction of approximately 0.30. The NPG samples with ligament sizes ranging from 20 nm to 400 nm were prepared by dealloying and by controlling the thermal annealing process. The original data consist of tomographic TIFF files acquired through Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB/SEM) 3D reconstruction, as detailed in Philosophical Magazine 2016 96 (32-34), 3322-3335. At each ligament size, six sets of 3D tomographic images were obtained from different regions of the same sample to ensure representative data. New simulations and analyses were conducted based on the 3D image data. The resulting structural and mechanical property data of nanoporous gold are reported for the first time in this dataset paper. Volume meshing of the 3D reconstructed data was performed using Simpleware software. Structural parameters, including surface area, solid volume, and solid volume fraction of the nanoporous network, were extracted from the meshed volumes. Structural connectivity was assessed from the 3D microstructures. The meshed volumes were then used as input for finite element simulations performed in Abaqus to evaluate mechanical responses under uniaxial compression along all three principal axes respectively. From the resulting stress-strain curves, the Young's modulus and yield strength of each structure were determined. Both elastic and plastic Poisson's ratios were analyzed from true strain increments. This dataset includes the 3D tomographic images, corresponding volume mesh files, mechanical behavior data and tables summarizing the structural and mechanical properties. The archived data serve as a database for nanoporous network materials and can be reused for numerical simulations, additive manufacturing, and machine learning applications within the materials science community. All files are openly accessible via the TORE repository at https://doi.org/10.15480/882.15230.