In this article, epoxy foams comprised of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) based epoxy resin E-31 and E-51, polyamide resin, and water were prepared by microwave irradiation method. The structure and properties of epoxy foams were analyzed by FTIR, TGA, SEM, and DMA methods. The density and compressive performance of epoxy foams was also determined. The results indicated that the epoxy foams had excellent compressive performance and the preparation of epoxy foam by microwave irradiation was high efficiency and convenient. The composition has great effect on density, foam structure, dynamical mechanic performance, and thermal degradation behavior of epoxy foams. The epoxy foam with density from 0.08 g cm(-3) to 1.05 g cm(-3) can be obtained by varying ratio of E-51 and E-31 to control the viscosity of mixtures. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 112: 3543-3547, 2009