This work is focused on the development of a surrogate lung material that not only reproduces the dynamic response of a human lung under various loading conditions but also allows the analysis of the extent and distribution of damage, thus potentially eliminating the practice of live animal testing. The surrogate material consists of polyurethane foam and fluid‐filled gelatin microcapsules. In order to characterize surrogate material, various tests were conducted on microcapsules and surrogate material itself. Initially, the bursting pressure of the microcapsules was investigated using low and high rate compression tests. A bursting pressure of around 5 bar was obtained which is comparable to the reported lung overpressure at injury level. Furthermore, low and high rate compression tests were conducted on the surrogate lung specimens to obtain the stress wave speed in the material. The wave speed was found to be well in the range of the reported values for both animal and human lungs (16‐70 m/s). A CT scan analysis was carried out before and after the impact tests to study the damage. The damage analysis was then compared to the Bowen curves. Excellent agreement was obtained.