Insight into the physics of foam densification via numerical simulation

Foamed materials are increasingly finding application in engineering systems on account of their unique properties. The basic mechanics which gives rise to these properties is well established, they are the result of collapsing the foam microstructure. Despite a basic understanding, the relationship between the details of foam microstructure and foam bulk response is generally unknown. With continued advances in computational power, many researchers have turned to numerical simulation to gain insight into the relationship between foam microstructure and bulk properties. However, numerical simulation of foam microscale deformation is a very challenging computational task and, to date, simulations over the full range of bulk deformations in which these materials operate have not been reported. Here a particle technique is demonstrated to be well-suited for this computational challenge, permitting simulation of the compression of foam microstructures to full densification. Computations on idealized foam microstructures are in agreement with engineering guidelines and various experimental results. Dependencies on degree of microstructure regularity and material properties are demonstrated. A surprising amount of porosity is found in fully-densified foams. The presence of residual porosity can strongly influence dynamic material response and hence needs to be accounted for in bulk (average) constitutive models of these materials.