Modeling structures of open cell foams

Abstract

This work proposes an original geometrical model based on randomly packed spheres using Laguerre-Voronoi tessellations to simulate geometrical and topological characteristics in the microstructure of open cell foams. The model can be used to analyze the effect of coefficient of variation on the pores distribution in real foams. The distribution of foam-cell volumes in foam structures generated in this work is dependent on the log-normal distribution of sphere volumes in corresponding randomly packed spheres. The statistical data of modeled foam structures, including distribution of the cell volume, face and edge number is very close to the characteristics of real materials. The results also show that a higher coefficient of variation in the sphere diameter would decrease the average number of faces per cell. The average number of faces varies from 13.56 to 14.43 for different coefficients of variation of sphere diameter, while the average number of faces in the Poisson-Voronoi tessellation structures is approximately 15.5. Furthermore, the porosity of foam structures, ε, decreases with the ratio of strut diameter to the average diameter of randomly packed spheres, ds/E(d), while the specific surface area of foams, SV, increases with ds/E(d).