Mechanical Properties of Open-Cell Cellular Structures With Rhombic Dodecahedron Cells

We present a series of analytical models and finite element results (FE) for special 3-D open cellular foam to determine the effective material properties of a 3D rhombic dedecahedron open-cell cellular structure. The analytical approach is based on minimizing the total energy associated with small deformation of a single unit cell of the cellular structure. The finite element models were developed for both a single unit cell and three dimensional foam structure and used to obtain the mechanical properties in all three principal directions.