Tomography and Simulation of Microstructure Evolution of a Closed-Cell Polymer Foam in Compression

Closed-cell foams in compression exhibit complex deformation characteristics that remain incompletely understood. In this paper the microstructural evolution of closed-cell polymethacrylimide foam was simulated in compression undergoing elastic, compaction, and densification stages. The three-dimensional microstructure of the foam is determined using Micro-Computed Tomography (μ-CT), and is converted to material points for simulations using the...