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As foams have become very important in several areas and since characterizing their properties is a crucial task, a finite element simulation model for high-density closed cell foams based on computed tomography (CT) measurements is developed. The model includes realistic microstructural features like cell size distribution due to the utilization of CT data. Moreover, a ‘skin-core-skin’ microstructure resulting from the manufacturing process (injection moulding) of the foams is also considered in the model. The mechanical behaviour of the foam’s core layer under tension and compression load is characterized based on the microstructural model to develop constitutive material models of the foam. These constitutive models enable further mechanical characterization of the foam with less computational effort. Compression and bending test simulations of injection moulded foams with three different densities are validated with corresponding experimental results. Thus, conclusions can be drawn regarding the reliability, applicability and possible further extensions of the high-density foam model.

The characterization of the loading rate dependence of the fracture behavior of polymers is of prime theoretical and practical interest for supporting demanding engineering applications. To gain more insight into the high rate fracture behavior of polymers, fracture tests were performed under tensile loading conditions up to 12 m/s loading rate using a neat model polymer (PVC grey) in this study. A conventional single actuator test set-up for compact tension C(T) specimens was developed based on the previous experience of the authors and implemented on a new high rate servohydraulic testing machine. In addition, a novel double action test set-up was developed by applying two twin actuators and implemented in a rigid horizontal test frame. The conventional load and force measurement was extended by instrumented test specimens and by a high speed optical strain analysis system for both set-ups. Force based fracture toughness values using the peak load values, KIcPL and displacement based values using the critical crack opening displacement (CTOD) KICCTOD were determined up to a loading rate of 10 m/s. While the KIcPL values decreased up to a loading rate 103 MPam1/2s-1 an increase with a high data scatter was observed above them. Corresponding to the CTOD values the calculated KICCTOD values revealed a slight decrease and moderate data scatter up to the maximal loading rate.

A methodology to calculate surface strains from a rectangular grid placed on a forming blank is introduced. This method consists of treating the grid points as nodes of a finite element (FE) model and assigning elements to the grid. The strains are then computed following FE analysis. If higher order elements are used, also more information within the element can be obtained which allows a coarser grid without loss of accuracy. This is the major advantage of the approach presented herein.

As particle filled and fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites are frequently used in many demanding industrial applications, the proper prediction of the deformation behavior of these materials is of high practical importance for a reliable product design. To predict the thermo-mechanical behavior, micromechanics based simulations were performed using both the mean field homogenization methods (MFH) and full-scale finite element (FS-FE simulations on a material specific representative volume. The applicability and limitations of both methods are introduced based on five different practical examples. Both thermoplastic polymers and elastomers were used as matrix materials with combination of fillers made from different materials having different aspect ratio and revealing a wide variation of alignments and arrangements. While conventionally the behavior of composites revealing processing induced microstructure is predicted for practical engineering applications, novel artificial micro-structures revealing special functionalities might also be designed and their behavior predicted for supporting material development efforts.

Injection molded discontinuous fiber reinforced components are widely used in many demanding engineering applications and are exposed to a complex combination of thermo-mechanical loads. Mean field homogenization approach was successfully applied for predicting the global stiffness behavior over wide part geometry complexity, fiber orientation distribution (FOD) and loading situations including loading rate and temperature dependence. The prediction of the component strength, however, is significantly more complicated and requires additional and theoretical considerations as well as the application of various numerical tools and sophisticated experiments. To overcome above difficulties the MFH technique was extended with the first pseudo grain failure or damage (FPGF or FPGD) approach proposed by the research group of Doghri [1] elaborated in detail using short glass fiber reinforced PP-GF in the PhD Thesis of Reiter [2] and shortly described in this study.

In a recent study of the corresponding author, it was found that PEEK bearing elements revealed high (irreversible) surface strains if they were loaded between steel sheets. Since this reflects the conditions in the practical application and because the rolling properties are dominated by the surface material, a more detailed analysis of highly strained PEEK was required. Hence, fatigue tests in the high stress tensile regime were conducted. The experiments were carried out on servo-hydraulic testing machines and during the tests the mechanical response of the specimens was recorded. Two material modifications of PEEK were investigated in the research: untreated PEEK (without heat treatment) and annealed PEEK which was modified using defined thermal conditions. The analysis of the recorded test data aimed on the distinction between cumulative material response (creep deformation, material hardening / softening) and spontaneous material response (material hardening / softening). At the highest stress levels, the cumulative response pretended material softening with increasing number of cycles. However, by examining the spontaneous material response which became stiffer with increasing number of cycles, it was shown that the cumulative softening was caused by time-dependent deformation processes.

In this paper it is demonstrated, how research in optical coherence tomography (OCT) for biomedical diagnostics successfully triggered new developments in the field of mechanical material testing. With the help of a specifically designed, compact and robust spectral domain polarization sensitive OCT (SD-PS-OCT) setup, which is operating at 1.55 m, dynamic investigations of technical materials - like bulk polymers and composite samples - can be performed under various conditions. Already by evaluating the speckle pattern of the standard SD-OCT images with advanced image processing methods, valuable information on the deformation and flow characteristics of samples subjected to tensile tests can be obtained. By additionally taking the birefringence properties into account, complementary knowledge on the evolvement of the internal stress situation is obtained in a spatially resolved way.

Thermoplastic elastomers are a relatively new group of engineering materials and are increasingly used in various technical applications (i.e., seals, gaskets, damping elements, and membranes) where the fatigue resistance plays an important role. The fracture behavior of elastomers is often characterized using the tearing energy concept, T. However, hardly any data are available for these types of materials. Hence, an unfilled and a filled thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) type were investigated under cyclic loading conditions. The pure shear specimen configuration was used in the experimental part of this study. Crack growth kinetics curves were determined and the cycle number and the tests frequency dependence of these curves investigated. While a stable crack growth process was observed at 2 Hz the crack growth became unstable above specific test amplitude at 10 Hz.