• Source: Polyurethane foam

Polyurethane foam is a solid polymeric foam based on polyurethane chemistry. As a specialist synthetic material with highly diverse applications, polyurethane foams are primarily used for thermal insulation and as a cushioning material in mattresses, upholstered furniture or as seating in vehicles. Its low density and poor thermal conductivity combined with its mechanical properties make them excellent thermal and sound insulators, as well as structural and comfortable materials.
Polyurethane foams are thermosetting polymers. They cannot be melted and reshaped after initially formed, because the chemical bonds between the molecules in the material are very strong and are not broken down by heating. Once cured and cooled, the material maintains its shape and properties.




Classification of polyurethane foams


Polyurethane foams are the most widely used representatives of thermoset foams. Depending on their cellular structure, they can be classified as open or closed-cell foams. Looking at mechanical properties, there are two main types of polyurethane foam; flexible (soft) and rigid (hard) foams.
Generally speaking, flexible polyurethane foams have an open-cell structure where the pores are interconnected, smaller in size and irregularly shaped; contrary to rigid polyurethane foams that have a closed-cell structure, where the pores are not interconnected.
The market share between these two types is largely equal.
There are various processing technologies in the production of polyurethane foams. Depending on the properties of the end application, the two most often used at large scale production are moulding and slabstock (block) foaming.
Next to these, other prominent types include cavity-filling foam (e.g. car fillings used for acoustic insulation); and spray foam (e.g. roof thermal insulation). These are known as semi-flexible foams behind appropriate overlays.




Flexible polyurethane foam


The so-called flexible polyurethane foam is produced from the reaction of polyols and isocyanates, a process pioneered in 1937. flexible polyurethane foam allows for some compression and resilience that provides a cushioning effect. Because of this property, it is often used in furniture, bedding, automotive seating, athletic equipment, packaging, footwear and carpets.




Rigid polyurethane foams


Rigid polyurethane foam has many desirable properties which has enabled increased use in various applications, some of which are quite demanding. These properties include low thermal conduction making it useful as an insulator. It also has low density compared to metals and other materials and also good dimensional stability. A metal will expand on heating whereas rigid PU foam does not. They have excellent strength to weight ratios. Like many applications, there has been a trend to make rigid PU foam from renewable raw materials in place of the usual polyols.
They are used in vehicles, planes and buildings in structural applications. They have also been used in fire-retardant applications.




Space shuttles


Polyurethane foam has been widely used to insulate fuel tanks on Space Shuttles. However, it requires a perfect application, as any air pocket, dirt or an uncovered tiny spot can knock it off due to extreme conditions of liftoff. Those conditions include violent vibrations, air friction and abrupt changes in temperature and pressure. For a perfect application of the foam there have been two obstacles: limitations related to wearing protective suits and masks by workers and inability to test for cracks before launch, such testing is done only by naked eye. The loss of foam caused the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. According to the Columbia accident report, NASA officials found foam loss in over 80% of the 79 missions for which they have pictures.
By 2009 researchers created a superior polyimide foam to insulate the reusable cryogenic propellant tanks of Space Shuttles.




References

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