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Density modeling of polyurethane box foam
Author(s) -
Shen Lu,
Zhao Yusheng,
Tekeei Ali,
Hsieh FuHung,
Suppes Galen J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.23694
Subject(s) - blowing agent , polyurethane , materials science , composite material , boiling , metal foam , mechanical engineering , thermodynamics , engineering , physics , aluminium
A model based on about a dozen fundamental differential equations is used to evaluate and simulate the urethane reactions and physical processes of urethane box foaming. This work focuses on quantitative modeling of foam density for foams using water and physical blowing agents. The final densities of foams range from 30 to 90% of the density as projected with full utilization of the blowing agent. The primary sources of inefficient use of blowing agent are loss of the physical blowing during open‐air mixing and degassing—basically, physical blowing agents with boiling points between 25 and 80°C will evaporate and experience cell rupture in box foams. This loss of blowing agent would not apply to in‐line mixers used for commercial production and should be taken into account with scaling up box or cup foams commercial processes. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:1503–1511, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers