Thermo-mechanical characterization of silicone foams
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Cellular solids such as elastomeric foams are used in many structural applications to absorb and dissipate energy, due to their light weight (low density) and high energy absorption capability. In this paper we will discuss foams derived from S5370, a silicone foam formulation developed by Dow Corning. In the application presented, the foam is consolidated into a cushion component of constant thickness but variable density. A mechanical material model developed by Lewis (2013), predicts material response, in part, as a function of relative density. To determine the required parameters for this model we have obtained the mechanical response in compression for ambient, cold and hot temperatures. The variable density cushion provided samples sufficient samples so that the effect of sample initial density on the mechanical response could be studied. The mechanical response data showed extreme sensitivity to relative density. We also observed at strains corresponding to 1 MPa a linear relationship between strain and initial density for all temperatures. Samples taken from parts with a history of thermal cycling demonstrated a stiffening response that was a function of temperature, with the trend of more stiffness as temperature increased above ambient. This observation is in agreement with the entropic effects on the thermo-mechanical behavior of silicone polymers. In this study, we present the experimental methods necessary for the development of a material model, the testing protocol, analysis of test data, and a discussion of load (stress) and gap (strain) as a function of sample initial densities and temperatures
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1228762
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-15-26060
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Chapter 104 in Constitutive Models for Rubbers IX (Print ISBN: 978-1-138-02873-9), Marvalova, Bohdana and Petrikova, Iva (eds.), CRC Press 2015, pp. 689-695; Also submitted to Technische Mechanik
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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