Multiaxial yield surface of transversely isotropic foams: Part I—Modeling

A new yield criterion is proposed for transversely isotropic solid foams. Its derivation is based on the hypothesis that the yielding in foams is driven by the total strain energy density, rather than a completely phenomenological approach. This allows defining the yield surface with minimal number of parameters and does not require complex experiments. The general framework used leads to the introduction of new scalar measures of stress and strain (characteristic stress and strain) for transversely isotropic foams. Furthermore, the central hypothesis that the total strain energy density drives yielding in foams ascribes to the characteristic stress an analogous role of von Mises stress in metal plasticity. Unlike the overwhelming majority of yield models in literature the proposed model recognizes the tension–compression difference in yield behavior of foams through a linear mean stress term. Predictions of the proposed yield model are in excellent agreement with the results of uniaxial, biaxial and triaxial FE analyses implemented on both isotropic and transversely isotropic Kelvin foam models.