**1. Introduction**

This present study aims to identify the behavior of a new cellular material, including a biphasic structure (air + solid plastic films) which consists of a flexible plastic film. The finished product is in the form of compressed and attached cubic blocks whose volume is about 1m and whose density is ranging from 0.3 to 0.6.

This material has diverse applications in Civil Engineering and Public Works. It can be used as a light weight embankment on poor mechanical characteristics soils, to minimize the loads on buried pipelines (Marston effect) and to make soundproof wall or dams to protect from falling stones.

This research was initiated by a thorough understanding of the physical reality of the material. Then, the behavior of this material has been identified by targeted experiments, and finally a theoretical model is developed.

The first form of this model is nonlinear which was modified to be able to take into account the hardening of material while loading. Finally, this model was linearized to be applied in special cases in a field of stresses which can reach 200 kPa and covers the main domain of real applications.
