Crushable multiaxial behavior of sandwich foam cores: Pressure vessel experiments

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the multiaxial, elastic-plastic and hysteresis behavior of Divinycell PVC H100 foam using a novel pressure vessel experiment. Cyclic, elastic and post-yield behavior of the foam under uniaxial compression and tension, shear, biaxial compression and shear, triaxial compression, triaxial compression-tension and triaxial compression and shear were obtained in both out-of-plane and in-plane directions of the foam. In all the above-mentioned modes, the foam exhibited elastic-plastic response followed by damage and viscoelastic hysteresis. The Tsai–Wu failure criterion was found to be superior in predicting yielding under triaxial stress states among all the anisotropic yield criteria considered. Based on the experimental results, an elastic-plastic, viscoelastic damage model was developed and used to obtain transversely isotropic, plastic strain hardening behavior as well as viscoelastic and damage properties associated with post-yield hysteresis.