We explore the elastic and plastic Poisson’s ratios, mE and mP, of nanoporous gold, using digital image correlation during compression experiments including load/unload segments. The two coefficients differ significantly, with mE independent of the ligament size, L, and with a trend for mP / L at not too large L. Disorder in the network of ligaments may explain why mE is smaller than predicted by lattice-based models. Finite element simulations, based on the Deshpande–Fleck constitutive law, validate the data analysis. The constitutive law captures work-hardening and transverse flow of nanoporous gold in good agreement with the experiment.
