Viscoelastic and compression fatigue properties of closed cell PVDF foam

This work illustrates the dynamical mechanical behaviour under cyclic fatigue and combined thermal–mechanical sinusoidal loading of a novel PVDF closed cell foam. The fatigue tests are carried out in control displacement and the specimens are statically loaded until a compression ratio of 50%, then cyclically loaded at various amplitudes. Viscoelastic tests are performed to obtain a master curve for the storage modulus and loss factor versus the reduced frequency, and with a vibration transmissibility technique to estimate the complex modulus up to 300 Hz at room temperature. The fatigue and viscoelastic tests indicate a remarkable stiffness loss and energy dissipated dependent on the loading ratio used, as well as peak loss factor of 0.2 and storage modulus varying between 300 kPa and 3 MPa from the glassy to the rubber zones.