Full-Field Experimental Study and Numerical Modeling of Soft Polyurethane Foam Subjected to Cyclic Loading

Abstract

In this study, the responses of three soft open cell polyurethane foam samples (85, 63 and 46 kg/m3) subjected to four incremental cyclic compression load steps of 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% strain are analyzed by digital image correlation. Facing large deformation, the foam behavior is investigated in terms of engineering and true strain curves. Poisson’s ratio is studied by a tangent Poisson function which is able to capture the instantaneous behavior of the foam. Experimental displacement maps, stress–strain, and axial vs. transverse strain curves are compared in terms of numerical results obtained by FEM analysis for ν = 0 and ν ≠ 0.

Keywords

• soft polyurethane foam
• digital image correlation
• Poisson’s ratio
• cyclic compression
• large deformations