1 Predicting the Transversely Isotropic Behaviour of Closed-Cell Foam Subjected to Compressive Loading

The large deformation compressive response of transversely isotropic, compressible, melt-extruded closed-cell Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) foam is predicted from the mechanical properties of the constituent polymeric material and the foam’s microstructure. An important goal of this work is to make predictions from the micro-scale without recourse to macro-scale testing, using analytical models wherever possible and resorting to numerical simulations when required. To do this, a three-part process is followed: first of the parameters of a linear elastic transversely isotropic constitutive model are determined, see Eq (1) [1], using a combination o