Large Deformations of Low Density Open-Cell Elastomeric Foams: Kelvin Model Study

Based on Kelvin model, the large deformations of elastomeric foams were simulated by finite element method (FEM). Numerical results indicated that edge bending, edge stretching and edge torsion were important deformation mechanisms of low density open-cell Kelvin foam. The hyperelasticity of the cell material had little effect on the macro-mechanical properties of the foam at low strain in [111] direction and finite compressive strain in [100] direction when edge bending was the main deformation mechanism of the foams. With the increase of the uniaxial tensile strain, edge stretching played notable roles, which resulted in that the hyperelasticity of the solid had significantly influence on the deformation of the foam at large uniaxial tensile strain. And the high strain compressive stress-strain curves in the [111] direction based on the hyperelastic relation differed from the linear elastic results remarkably as edge torsion was an important deformation mechanism of the foam.