Radial Inertia Effect on Dynamic Compressive Response of Polymeric Foam Materials

• Published in: Experimental mechanics Vol. 59; no. 1; pp. 17 - 27
• Main Authors: Song, B., Sanborn, B., Lu, W.-Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2019; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Axial strain; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Blast loads; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Compression tests; Control; Deformation effects; Deformation mechanisms; Dynamic response; Dynamical Systems; Energy absorption; Engineering; Inertia; Kolsky bar; Lasers; MATERIALS SCIENCE; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Plastic foam; Poisson's ratio; Polymeric foam; Radial inertia; Solid Mechanics; Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB); Vibration; Dynamic response; Polymeric foam; Poisson’s ratio; Radial inertia; Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB); Kolsky bar
• ISSN: 0014-4851; 1741-2765
• DOI: 10.1007/s11340-018-0431-2

Polymeric foams have been extensively used in shock isolation applications because of their superior shock or impact energy absorption capability. However, as a type of soft condensed matter, the highly nonlinear, heterogeneous, and dissipative behavior of polymeric foams may result in an ineffective mitigation or isolation to shock/blast loading. To meet certain desired shock mitigation or isolation requirements, the polymeric foams need to be experimentally characterized to obtain their intrinsic material response. However, radial inertia during dynamic compression has become a severe issue and needs to be fully understood. In this study, we developed an analytical method to calculate the additional stress induced by radial inertia in a polymeric foam specimen. The radial inertia is generally caused by Poisson’s effect and associated with three different mechanisms – axial strain acceleration, large deformation, and Poisson’s ratio change. The effect of Poisson’s ratio change during deformation on radial inertia was specifically investigated for hyperelastic foam materials, and verified with experimental results obtained from Kolsky compression bar tests on a silicone foam.