Impact-compression-morphology relationship in polyolefin foams

The relationship between the morphology and the mechanical properties of polyethylene (PE) foams has been studied. Experiments have been made on closed cell low density foams at low testing speed as well as in impact conditions. A careful characterization of the cell size distribution and anisotropy was performed and related to the foams mechanical response. The results indicate that the mechanical response of the foams is anisotropic and can be expressed as a function of the foam morphology, using a unique morphological parameter taking into account the cell size in the appropriate direction and foam density. Previously developed for polystyrene foams, the use of this parameter is thus successfully extended to PE-based foams.