Propagation Properties of Shock Waves in Polyurethane Foam based on Atomistic Simulations

Porous materials are widely used in the field of protection because of their excellent energy absorption characteristics.In this work,a series of polyurethane microscopic models are established and the effect of porosity on the shock waves is studied with classical molecular dynamics simulations.Firstly,shock Hugoniot relations for different porosities are obtained,which compare well with the experimental data.The pores collapse and form local stress wave,which results in the complex multi-wave structure of the shock wave.The microstructure analysis shows that the local stress increases and the local velocity decreases gradually during the process of pore collapse to complete compaction.Finally,it leads to stress relaxation and velocity homogenization.The shock stress peaks can be fitted with two exponential functions,and the amplitude of attenuation coefficient decreases with the increase of density.Besides,the pore collapse under shock or non-shock are discussed by the entropy increase rate of the system.The energy is dissipated mainly through the multiple interactions of the waves under shock.The energy is dissipated mainly by the friction between atoms under non-shock.

Experimental investigation on weak shock wave mitigation characteristics of flexible polyurethane foam and polyurea

In recent years,explosion shock wave has been considered as a signature injury of the current military conflicts.Although strong shock wave is lethal to the human body,weak shock wave can cause many more lasting consequences.To investigate the protection ability and characteristics of flexible materials and structures under weak shock wave loading,the blast wave produced by TNT explosive is loaded on the polyurethane foam with the density of 200.0 kg/m3(F-200)and 400.0 kg/m3(F-400),polyurea with the density of 1100.0 kg/m^(3)(P-1100)and structures composed of the two materials,which are intended for individual protection.Experimental results indicate that the shock wave is attenuated to weak pressure disturbance after interacting with the flexible materials which are not damaged.The shock wave protective capability of single-layer materials is dependent on their thickness,density and microscopic characteristics.The overpressure,maximum pressure rise rate and impulse of transmitted wave decrease exponentially with increase in sample thickness.For the same thickness,F-400 provides better protective capability than F-200 while P-1100 shows the best protective capability among the three materials.In this study,as the materials are not destroyed,F-200 with a thickness more than10.0 mm,F-400 with a thickness more than 4.0 mm,and P-1100 with a thickness more than 1.0 mm can attenuate the overpressure amplitude more than 90.0%.Further,multi-layer flexible composites are designed.Different layer layouts of designed structures and layer thickness of the single-layer materials can affect the protective performance.Within the research range,the structure in which polyurea is placed on the impact side shows the optimal shock wave protective performance,and the thicknesses of polyurea and polyurethane foam are 1.0 mm and 4.0 mm respectively.The overpressure attenuation rate reached maximum value of 93.3%and impulse attenuation capacity of this structure are better than those of single-layer polyurea and polyurethane foam with higher areal density.

Mechanical properties of foamed polyurethane solidified ballasted track

Foamed Polyurethane Solidified Ballasted Track(FPSBT),an innovative railway track,is formed by solidifying ballast bed with foamed polyurethane.Compared with the traditional Discrete Ballasted Track(DBT),FPSBT does not require regular maintenance such as tamping and cleaning.However,limited studies exist on the mechanical properties of FPSBT.In this study,Laboratory experiments are conducted on polyurethane samples to investigate the effects of polyurethane density on the mechanical properties of FPSBT.Furthermore,the performance of DBT and FPSBT with different polyurethane densities are compared,and the recommended polyurethane density is obtained.FPSBT exhibited negligible accumulation of deformation under cyclic loads,indicating excellent performance of FPSBT owing to the anti-deformation properties of polyurethane.Further,a track load vehicle test is conducted.FPSBT exhibited better load-transmitting ability than DBT.Finally,the construction and application of FPSBT in China are introduced.This study is expected to contribute to realizing a more extensive application of FPSBT.

Improving the Sound Absorption Properties of Flexible Polyurethane (PU) Foam using Nanofibers and Nanoparticles

Polyurethane foam as the most well-known absorbent materials has a suitable absorption coefficient only within a limited frequency range.The aim of this study was to improve the sound absorption coefficient of flexible polyurethane(PU)foam within the range of various frequencies using clay nanoparticles,polyacrylonitrile nanofibers,and polyvinylidene fluoride nanofibers.The response surface method was used to determine the effect of addition of nanofibers of PAN and PVDF,addition of clay nanoparticles,absorbent thickness,and air gap on the sound absorption coefficient of flexible polyurethane foam(PU)across different frequency ranges.The absorption coefficient of the samples was measured using Impedance Tubes device.Nano clay at low thicknesses as well as polyacrylonitrile nanofibers and polyvinyl fluoride nanofibers at higher thicknesses had a greater positive effect on absorption coefficient.The mean sound absorption coefficient in the composite with the highest absorption coefficient at middle and high frequencies was 0.798 and 0.75,respectively.In comparison with pure polyurethane foam with the same thickness and air gap,these values were 2.22 times at the middle frequencies and 1.47 times at high frequencies,respectively.Surface porosity rose with increasing nano clay,but decreased with increasing polyacrylonitrile nanofibers and polyvinyl fluoride nanofibers.The results indicated that the absorption coefficient was elevated with increasing the thickness and air gap.This study suggests that the use of a combination of nanoparticles and nanofibers can enhance the acoustic properties of flexible polyurethane foam.

Performance characterization, of rigid polyurethane foam with refined alkali lignin and modified alkali lignin

The two kinds of rigid polyurethane （PU） foams were prepared with respectively adding the refined alkali lignin and alkali lignin modified by 3-chloro-1,2-epoxypropane to be instead of 15% of the polyether glycol in weight. The indexes of mechanical performance, apparent density, thermal stability and aging resistance were separately tested for the prepared PU foams. The results show that the mechanical property, thermal insulation and thermal stability for PU foam with modified alkali lignin are excellent among two kinds of PU foams and control samples. The additions of the refined alkali lignin and modified alkali lignin to PU foam have little effect on the natural aging or heat aging resistance except for decreasing hot alkali resistance apparently. Additionally, the thermal conductivity of modified alkali lignin PU foam is lowest among two kinds of PU foams and control samples. The alkali lignin PU foam modified by 3-chloro-1,2-epoxypropane could be applied in the heat preservation field.

Numerical study of forward smoldering combustionof polyurethane foam

A two-dimensional and two-phase numerical model is presented for the smolder propagation in a horizontal polyurethane foam. The chemical processes considered include endothermic pyrolysis and exotherrnic oxidation degradation of polyurethane foam and exothermic oxidation of char. The governing equations are discretized in space using the finite element method and solved by the software package FEMLAB. Predicted profiles of solid temperature as well as evolutions of solid compositions （including foam, char and ash） are presented at an airflow velocity of 0. 28 cm/s. The computed average smoldering velocity is 0. 021 4 cm/s, and the average maximum temperature is 644. 67 K. Based on the evolutions of solid compositions, the packed bed can be obviously divided into four zones： unreacted zone, fuel pyrolysis and oxidation zone, char oxidation zone and fuel burned-out zone. Simultaneously, the effects of inlet air velocity and fuel properties （including thermal conductivity, specific heat, density and pore diameter） are studied on the smoldering propagation. The results show that the smoldering velocity and temperature have a roughly linear increase with increasing inlet air velocity; the fuel density is the most important factor in determining smoldering propagation; radiation has a non-negligible role on the smoldering velocity for larger pore diameters of porous material. The computational results are compared with the experimental data and a general agreement is reached.

Elastic Bio-based Polyurethane Nanofibrous Membrane with Robust Waterproof and Breathable Properties

Elastic bio-based waterproof and breathable membranes(EBWBMs) allow the passage of water vapor effectively and resist the penetration of liquid water,making it ideal for use under extreme conditions.In this study,we used a facile strategy to design the bio-based polyurethane(PU) nanofibrous membranes with the nanoscale porous structure to provide the membranes with high waterproof and breathable performances.The optimization of nanofibrous membrane formation was accomplished by controlling the relative ambient humidity to modulate the cooperating effects of charge dissipation and non-solvent-induced phase separation.The obtained EBWBMs showed multiple functional properties,with a hydrostatic pressure of 86.41 kPa and a water vapor transmission(WVT) rate of 10.1 kg·m^(-2)·d^(-1).After 1 000 cycles of stretching at 40% strain,the EBWBMs retained over 59% of the original maximum stress and exhibited an ideal elasticity recovery ratio of 85%.Besides,even after 80% deformation,the EBWBMs still maintained a hydrostatic pressure of 30.65 kPa and a WVT rate of 13.6 kg·m^(-2)·d^(-1),suggesting that bio-based PU nanofibrous membranes could be used for protection under extreme conditions.

Development of polyurethane foam dressing containing silver and asiaticoside for healing of dermal wound

Polyurethane foam dressings for dermal wounds were formulated with natural polyols in order to improve the foam characteristics and the release of 2 active agents,silver and asiaticoside(AS)as an antimicrobial agent and an herbal wound healing agent,respectively.The foam was instantly formed by interaction of polyols and diisocyanate.Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose,chitosan and sodium alginate were individually mixed with themain polyols,polypropylene glycol,in the formulation while the active componentswere impregnated into the obtained foam dressing sheets.Although the type and amount of the natural polyols slightly affected the pore size,water sorption-desorption profile and compression strength of the obtained foam sheets,a prominent effect was found in the release of both active components.Among natural polyols formulations,foam sheets with alginate showed the highest silver and AS release.Non-cytotoxicity of these foam sheets to human fibroblast cells was confirmed.Antimicrobial testing on four bacteria strains showed that 1mg/cm^2 silver in formulations with 6%of natural polyols and without natural polyols had sufficient content of the silver release with comparable inhibition zone and significantly larger zone than other formulations.In pig study,the foam dressing with 6%alginate,1mg/cm^2 silver and 5%AS could improve wound healing in both the percentage of the wound closure and histological parameters of the dermal wound without any dermatologic reactions.In conclusion,this innovative foam dressing had potential to be a good candidate for wound treatment.

Electroless copper plating on microcellular polyurethane foam

In order to obtain substrates with good conductive foam for high porosity foam metal materials used in the metal electrodes,the technique of electroless copper plating on the microcellular polyurethane foam with pore size of 0.3 mm was investigated.The main factors affecting the deposition rate such as the solution composition,temperature,pH value and adding ultrasonic were explored.The results show that the optimum process conditions are CuSO4 16 g/L,HCHO 5 mL/L,NaKC4H4O6 30 g/L,Na2EDTA 20 g/L,K4Fe(CN)6 25 mg/L,pH value of 12.5-13.0 and temperature of 40-50℃.Under these technical conditions, the process has excellent bath stability.Adding ultrasonic on the process can elevate the deposition rate of copper by 20%-30%.The foam metal material with a porosity of 92.2%and a three-dimensional network structure,was fabricated by electro-deposition after the electroless copper plating.

Synthesis of CO2 Copolymer Based Polyurethane Foams

CO2-copolymer based polyurethane foams were synthesized and characterized in this paper. The foams were found to have higher strength and lower heat of combustion than the conventional polyether polyurethane foams. They may find wide applications in many fields.

Fabrication and characterization of novel foaming polyurethane hollow fiber membrane

Foam-like materials had attracted great interest as promising absorbent. In this study, thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU) block sponge was synthesized. Polyester(PET) braid tubular reinforced polyurethane(PU) spongy hollow fiber membrane was prepared by a concentric circular spinning method. The method was woven from an outer coated water-blown PU separation layer and inner PET braid tubular. We have developed a simple and useful preparation technique for the PU spongy hollow fiber membrane. For the first time, the PU spongy hollow fiber membrane was prepared using a coating and controlled foaming technique. The influence of toluene isocyanate index on the physical properties, morphology, and structure of flexible PU sponge was discussed in terms of water contact angle(CA), pure water flux(PWF), Fourier Transform Infrared Analysis(FTIR),pressure-responsive property, and pull-out strength. The morphologies of the membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. We have characterized the foams from an intuitive point of view and demonstrated that the dimensional morphology of the membrane was closely related to isocyanate index. The result showed that the surface cell size of the PU sponge hollow fiber membrane gradually decreased with an increase of the isocyanate index. Due to the elasticity of PU at room temperature, the pressure responsive characteristic of the membrane was prepared. When isocyanate index was 1.05, the interface bonding strength of PU spongy hollow fiber membranes reached as high as 0.37 MPa, porosity and PWF were 71.5% and 415.5 L·m^-2·h^-1,respectively.

Preparation and Properties of Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF)/Polyurethane (PU) Composite Nanofiber Membranes

Polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)/polyurethane(PU)composite nanofiber membranes were prepared by mixing PVDF and PU at different mass ratios.The microstructure and the crystal structure of the composite nanofiber membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),Fourier transform infrared(FTIR)spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction(XRD).The hydrophilicity,mechanical properties and piezoelectric properties were also tested.Results showed that when the mass ratio of PVDF to PU was 9∶1,the fiber membrane had the best microstructure,and the crystal form of PVDF changed fromαcrystal toβcrystal in the electrospinning.The addition of PU improved the hydrophilicity,mechanical properties,and piezoelectric signal of the fiber membrane.When the mass ratio of PVDF to PU was 9∶1,the tensile strength reached the peak value of(10.39±0.41)N,and the output voltage reached the maximum value of(1.98±0.12)V.

Effect of Cellular Structure on Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Foam Curing Materials

Based on the mechanical properties and microstructure of polyurethane foam solidified material, a two-dimensional model of polyurethane foam solidified material was constructed. Polyurethane foam was obtained by fully and uniformly mixing the two components. The research was carried out through the combination of experimental test and finite element simulation. The experimental results show that when the pore density is constant, the size of the bubble hole is an important factor affecting the mechanical properties of the model. The smaller the size of the bubble hole, the less likely it is to produce stress concentration inside the model, and the stronger the resistance to material deformation. Under the random distribution, the lower the density of the polyurethane cured material, the higher the probability of damage between the adjacent bubbles, which is not conducive to the stability of the material. The density of the cured material should not be lower than 199 kg/m^3.

Broadband microwave absorption properties of polyurethane foam absorber optimized by sandwiched cross-shaped metamaterial

The effect of a sandwiched cross-shaped metamaterial absorber(CMMA) on microwave absorption properties of the double-layered polyurethane foam absorber(PUFA) is investigated. Combining with the sandwiched CMMA, the bandwidth of -10-dB reflection loss for PUFA is broadened from 7.4 GHz to 9.1 GHz, which is attributed to the overlap of two absorption peaks originating from CMMA and PUFA, respectively. The values of the two absorption peaks located at 10.15 GHz and 14.7 GHz are -38.44 dB and -40.91 dB, respectively. Additionally, distribution of surface current,electromagnetic field and power loss density are introduced to investigate the absorption mechanism of the CMMA. The electromagnetic field distribution of the double-layered PUFA and the three-layered hybrid absorber are comparatively analyzed to ascertain the influence of CMMA. The results show that the proposed hybrid absorber can be applied to the anti-electromagnetic interference and stealth technology.

Performance characterization of rigid polyurethane foam with refined alkali lignin and modified alkali lignin

The two kinds of rigid polyurethane(PU) foams were prepared with respectively adding the refined alkali lignin and alkali lignin modified by 3-chloro-1,2-epoxypropane to be instead of 15% of the polyether glycol in weight.The indexes of mechanical performance, apparent density, thermal stability and aging resistance were separately tested for the prepared PU foams.The results show that the mechanical property, thermal insulation and thermal stability for PU foam with modified alkali lignin are excellent among two kinds of PU foams and control samples.The additions of the refined alkali lignin and modified alkali lignin to PU foam have little effect on the natural aging or heat aging resistance except for decreasing hot alkali resistance apparently.Additionally, the thermal conductivity of modified alkali lignin PU foam is lowest among two kinds of PU foams and control samples.The alkali lignin PU foam modified by 3-chloro-1,2-epoxypropane could be applied in the heat preservation field.

Compression behavior and constitutive model establishment of fly ash cenosphere/polyurethane aluminum alloy syntactic foam

The aluminum matrix syntactic foam was fabricated by pressure infiltration technique,and the filling material is syntactic foam material with fly ash cenosphere as the main component and polyurethane foam as the binder.Split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)dynamic compression and quasi-static tests were carried out to examine the compressive response of syntactic foam in this study.Then the dynamic constitutive model was established.Results show that the compressive stress-strain curve of syntactic aluminum foam is similar to that of other metallic foam materials:both kinds of aluminum matrix syntactic foams have strain rate effect,and the syntactic foam has higher compressive strength and energy absorption than the same density aluminum foams.However,due to the different sizes of cenospheres,the dynamic compression results of two kinds of syntactic foams are different,and the energy absorption effect of syntactic foam with small size under dynamic impact is the best.In the range of strain rate and density studied experimentally,the curves of constitutive model fit well with the curves of experimental data.

Lignin-Polyurethane Based Biodegradable Foam

Natural sources like starch and lignin used during manufacturing of polyurethane (PU) foam have been used extensively from last decades and replaced petro-chemical based PU foam due to their lower environmental impact, easy availability, low cost and biodegradability. Bio-renewable sources, such as lignin which is an abundant, underutilized component of cellulosic biomass, constitute a rich source of polyol which are being considered as polyol for the production of “eco-friendly and bio-degradable” PU foam. Lignin was mainly used for production of high fungal degradable polyurethane foams, followed by elastomers as well as wood adhesives. This review paper will focus on the progress of research in lignin based polyurethane materials for foam application.

Numerical Predictions of the Effective Thermal Conductivity of the Rigid Polyurethane Foam

A reconstruction method is proposed for the polyurethane foam and then a complete numerical method is developed to predict the effective thermal conductivity of the polyurethane foam. The finite volume method is applied to solve the 2D heterogeneous pure conduction. The lattice Boltzmann method is adopted to solve the 1D homogenous radiative transfer equation rather than Rosseland approximation equation. The lattice Boltzmann method is then adopted to solve 1D homogeneous conduction-radiation energy transport equation considering the combined effect of conduction and radiation. To validate the accuracy of the present method, the hot disk method is adopted to measure the effective thermal conductivity of the polyurethane foams at different temperature. The numerical results agree well with the experimental data. Then, the influences of temperature, porosity and cell size on the effective thermal conductivity of the polyurethane foam are investigated. The results show that the effective thermal conductivity of the polyurethane foams increases with temperature; and the effective thermal conductivity of the polyurethane foams decreases with increasing porosity while increases with the cell size.

Lightweight Biobased Polyurethane Nanocomposite Foams Reinforced with Pineapple Leaf Nanofibers (PLNFs)

Pineapple leaf nanofibers(PLNFs)extracted from pineapple leaf fiber were used for reinforcing biobased polyurethane foam(BPU).The dispersion performance of PLNF in the foaming mixture system,nanocomposite foaming behavior,cell morphology,cell size,density,compressive strength and dimensional stability were investigated.The viscosity of the mixtures increased with increasing the PLNF content.The addition of a tiny amount of PLNF did not influence the exothermic temperature of the foam system,but reduced the expansion and gel time of the nanocomposite foams.This reduced time was found to increase the production efficiency.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)images showed that the PLNF neither affected the cell shape nor size.While the density of the foam was not obviously altered with the addition of a small amount of PLNF,the compressive strength and dimensional stability were significantly improved.

Bio-Based Trivalent Phytate:A Novel Strategy for Enhancing Fire Performance of Rigid Polyurethane Foam Composites

Biomass phytic acid has potential flame retardant value as the main form of phosphorus in plant seeds.In this study,phytate-based flame retardants aluminum phytate(PA-Al)and iron phytate(PA-Fe)were synthesized and characterized.Subsequently,they were introduced into rigid polyurethane foam(RPUF)as flame retardants by one-step water-blown method.The results indicated that RPUF/PA-Fe30 exhibited the highest char residue of 22.1 wt%,significantly higher than 12.4 wt%of RPUF.Cone calorimetry analysis showed that the total heat release(THR)of RPUF/PA-Al30 decreased by 17.0%and total smoke release(TSR)decreased by 22.0%compared with pure RPUF,which were the lowest,demonstrating a low fire risk and good smoke suppression.Thermogravimetric analysis-Fourier transform infrared spectrometer(TG-FTIR)implied the release intensity of flammable gases(hydrocarbons,esters)and toxic gases(isocyanate,CO,aromatic compounds,HCN)of composites was significantly reduced after the addition of PA-Fe.The analysis of char residue indicated that the RPUF composites formed a dense char layer with a high degree of graphitization after the addition of PA-Al/PA-Fe,endowing RPUF composites with excellent mass&heat transmission inhibition effect and fire resistance in the combustion process.