| Abstract: | Silicone rubber samples with gradually changing pore sizes within the range of 70–610 μm are produced using an improved spacer method. The samples are scanned using an X‐ray computed tomography to evaluate their graded structure as compared to uniform rubber. A compressive test reveals that graded porous silicone rubber has characteristic stress–strain curves whose slope changes within a specific strain range depending on the porous structure. Analysis results of local strain based on a digital image correlation of the graded porous silicone rubber under compression demonstrate that the characteristic stress–strain properties are caused by shifts in the main deformation region in the graded structure. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1033–1042 |
