A model for fluid ingress in closed cell polymeric foams

Foam cored composite sandwich panels are used in the marine structures. These structures are exposed to sea water environment, which may degrade their structural properties and diminish their performance. This article concerns the ingress of sea water into polymeric foams, which was observed to result in substantial weight gain ratios and noticeable damage to cellular foam walls. The water ingress phenomenon modeled herein is based on the assumption that it is governed by the cell wall breakage, rather than caused by diffusion. The foam structure is represented by means of Voronoi cell geometries. Numerical simulations using the proposed model are presented.