Investigating the Flexural Behaviour of Foams at High Strain Rate Using Optical Measurement Techniques

Polymer closed cell foam beam specimens manufactured from H100 Divinycell (Diab) are tested in four point bend at three loading speeds using a specially designed rig and an Instron VHS test machine. Synchronised high speed images are captured using white light and infra-red thermography (IRT) to obtain the mid-point full-field deflection and strains using digital image correlation (DIC) along with the temperature evolutions. There is a marked increase in the maximum load to failure with loading rate and the optical techniques provide an opportunity to analyse the strain and temperature evolution within the specimens.