3-D-printed metals have been used since the 1980s to produce a wide range of parts for various industries. These materials often have tiny pores inside them (around dozens of micrometers in size), which can get bigger when a load is applied to them, due to their manufacturing process. The team of researchers has analyzed what happens to these "micro voids" when applying a load to them in order to understand how these ductile metals (capable of absorbing energy) fracture.