Gas Diffusion and Re-Diffusion in Polyethylene Foams

In this work, the effective diffusion coefficient of the gas contained in closed cell polyethylene foams under static loading is measured. To do this, compressive creep experiments were performed on low density polyethylene foams produced under a gas diffusion process. Density dependence of this coefficient has been analysed as well as the variation of pressure with time inside the cells. Finally, immediately after compressive creep, the recovery behaviour of the foams was also characterised. Different abilities for recovering were observed depending on the density of the foam and the absolute recovery resulted independent of the initial stress applied.