THE RECOVERY BEHAVIOR OF CROSS-LINKED CLOSED CELL POLYOLEFIN FOAMS

In this work an experimental study on the short term creep-recovery re sponse of a collection of crosslinked low density polyolefin foams, wi th closed cell structure and different chemical composition, is presen ted. The effect of the maximum creep strain and the relationships betw een the chemical composition, the morphology of the foams, and their r ecovery response are examined. The experimental results show that the main mechanism that controls the behavior of these materials is the vi scoelastic recovery of the cell walls.