High Rate Compressive Behaviour of a Dilatant Polymeric Foam

In this material, the elastic collapse stress for quasi-static and dynamic compression conditions was found to be 120±40 kPa and 243±47 kPa, respectively, and elastic modulus were noted of 2.4±0.7 MPa and 3.8±1.2 MPa, respectively. Following the elastic collapse, some unique specimen-scale localization features were observed during the dynamic experiments. These features are unique to dynamic compression and were not observed for the quasi-static case, demonstrating a demonstrating a distinct high-rate behavior for this material, possibly linked to its “shear thickening” label. After densifcation, complete pore collapse followed by post pore collapse hardening were observed for both strain rates. These results represent some of the frst studies on shear-thickening foams in the literature, and the testing methodologies developed in this study will serve as the foundation for additional experimental and computation studies across a broader range of foam materials.