An elastic micropolar mixture theory for predicting elastic properties of cellular materials

An efficient modeling approach is established to predict the elastic response of cellular materials with distributions of cell geometries. The approach does not require complex and time-consuming computational techniques usually associated with modeling such materials. Unlike most current analytical techniques, the modeling approach directly accounts for the cellular material microstructure. The approach combines micropolar elasticity theory and elastic mixture theory to predict elastic response of cellular materials to a wide range of loading conditions. The modeling approach is applied to the two-dimensional balsa wood material. Predicted properties are in good agreement with experimentally determined properties, which emphasizes the model’s potential to predict the elastic response of other cellular solids, such as open cell and closed cell foams.