Mechanical Behavior of Foamed Materials Under Dynamic Compression

Abstract

Abstract : Dynamic compressive stress-strain data of several polymer foams obtained from uniaxial compressive tests over a wide range of loading rates are presented. For the tests with lower loading rates, an electro- hydraulically operated tester was used, while the higher rate test data were obtained by a gravity-operated drop tester. It is shown that the isothermal, uniaxial dynamic compressive stress-strain behavior of the foams tested can be described by a constitutive equation which is a power law in the strain rate. Exploratory uniaxial compressive data of an open-cell foam showing the air flow effect are also presented. (Author, modified-PL)