109 An evaluation method for compression properties of foam materials with heterogeneous microstructure

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop an evaluation method for compression properties of foam materials with heterogeneous microstructure. An analytical approach for evaluating compression properties of foam materials by the two-dimensional finite element analysis using homogenization method was described in this paper. First, porosity, mean cell diameter and dispersion of cell diameter were investigated from observation of cross-section structure using one foam material. Those parameters have similar features in any cross sections. We suppose that one cross section represent all other cross sections of foam material. Second, compression properties of foam materials were investigated by conducting a uniaxial compression test. Then, a unit cell model for numerical simulation of microscopic structure was created. Two-dimensional finite element analysis based on a formulation of homogenization theory was performed, and the analysis results were compared with the compression test result. As a result of the comparison, the effect of foam material structure on compression properties was evaluated.