Abstract:Compressive properties and energy absorption abilities of centrally symmetric grade density (CSGD), asymmetric grade density (AGD) and uniform density (UD) were evaluated by quasi-static compression. It was observed that the compressive capacities of both CSGD type and AGD type EPE foam blocks outperformed its uniform counterpart; for CSGD type EPE foam blocks, density variety of central layer had no discernible effect on the compressive properties and energy absorption abilities, but these properties would decrease significantly with the increase in the densities of the upper and bottom surface; while for AGD type EPE foam blocks, different density distribution of each layer only had marginal influence on its compressive behaviors. These results illustrated a good prospect that desired compressive strength could be obtained by adjusting the density of each layer of CSGD type EPE foam block, thus providing more flexible cushion packaging by using EPE foam.