Dynamic Characterization and Viscoelastic Modeling of Polymer Foams for Automotive Applications

Viscoelastic behavior of polymeric materials serves as a critical indicator of their internal structure and chemical composition, offering valuable insights into energy absorption and dissipation mechanisms. This study focuses on the dynamic characterization of polymer foams through both experimental and numerical approaches, aiming to accurately capture their time and frequency dependent mechanical response. Experimental investigations include uniaxial tension and uniaxial compression, which characterize hyperelastic or instantaneous behavior of the material. Stress relaxation tests and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) characterize the dependence on time, frequency and temperature. A combination of these tests is effectively utilized to create viscoelastic material models that can describe the material response as a function of time, frequency and temperature containing a viscous and an elastic part. This paper presents dynamic characterization of polymer foams in finite element simulations. Theoretical background of the numerical model is briefly discussed. The accuracy of the numerical models is validated through a case study, demonstrating the effectiveness of the combined experimental-numerical approach in predicting the mechanical performance of viscoelastic foams in automotive applications.