The compressive deformation of polymeric foams

An alternative approach has been developed to evaluate compressive stress on polymeric foams. Compressive stress depends primarily on three factors: foam density, deformation strains, and deformation rates. The density dependency derived from this approach agrees closely with the empirical models reported in the literature. Correlations between the dynamic compression and shear deformation are also derived. Experimental data are presented which show that G ′ and G ″ increase with increasing strain rates, while the damping factor reaches a maximum at low strain rates. Note that the proposed model for the prediction of cell‐wall rupture would not apply to foams with high open‐cell contents.