Unified Constitutive Equations of Foam Materials

Abstract

A unified constitutive equation with the effect of compression strain rate, tension strain, and shear strain for foam materials with very low Poisson’s ratio has been developed. The mathematical derivation of the constitutive equation is described in detail. The effect of each parameter in the constitutive equation is studied. Numerical formula and procedure are also included in the paper. The test data of two types of energy absorbing foam materials are used for correlation study: polyurethane foam, which was tested at five compressive strain rates, and polypropylene foam, which was tested for quasi-static compression, tension, and shear. Good correlations have been concluded for both cases.