Effect of Post-Added Water Amount on Pre-Concentrated Bark Foaming Materials by Mechanical Stirring

In this study,pre-concentrated bark,furfuryl alcohol and other biomass raw materials were used to prepare foaming materials by high-speed mechanical stirring without using a foaming agent.We investigated the effect of the postadded water amount on the properties of foaming materials.In particular,we determined basic physical properties of these materials,including the limiting oxygen index(LOI),porosity,thermal conductivity,thermogravimetric analysis,pore size distribution,and microstructure.The results of scanning electron microscopy(SEM)indicated that the pore size distribution was uniform and the pore size increased with increasing water volume.Thermogravimetric analysis(TG/DTG)showed that when the temperature reached 410°C,the foam was easily decomposed,the final residual mass was only 2.8%,and water addition had little effect on it.Moreover,the amount of post-added water is 5–30 g,the density and compression strength of the foamed materials gradually decreased,while the degree of pulverization increased.LOI ranged from 26.1%to 30.79%,and porosity ranged from 81%to 83%.The change in water volume greatly affected the foam’s performance,the performance of foamed material deteriorated as the amount of added water increased,but the effect on thermal conductivity was not very obvious.The highest thermal conductivity was only 0.0179 W/(m·K),still providing excellent thermal insulation.

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.

Carbon foams prepared from coal tar pitch for building thermal insulation material with low cost

A new approach is provided to resolve the large-scale applications of coal tar pitch. Carbon foams with uniform pore size are prepared at the foaming pressure of normal pressure using coal tar pitch as raw materials. The physical and chemical performance of high softening point pitch(HSPP) can be regulated by vacuumizing owing to the cooperation of vacuumizing and polycondensation. Results indicate that the optimum softening point and weight ratio of quinoline insoluble are about 292℃ and 65.7%, respectively. And the optimum viscosity of HSPP during the foaming process is distributed in the range of 1000-10000 Pa·s. The resultant carbon foam exhibits excellent performance, such as uniform pore structure, high compressive strength(4.7 MPa), low thermal conductivity(0.07 W·m^(-1) ·K^(-1)), specially, it cannot be fired under the high temperature of 1200 ℃.Thus, this kind of carbon foam is a potential candidate for thermal insulation material applied in energy saving building.

Experiment on Mode Ⅰ/Ⅱ Mixed Interfacial Fracture Characterization of Foam Core Sandwich Materials at Elevated Temperatures

Foam-cored sandwich materials have been widely used in the civil engineering due to their advantages such as lightweight,high strength,and excellent anti-corrosion ability. However,the interfacial bonding strength of foamcored sandwich materials is weakened at elevated temperatures. In practice,the effect of high temperature cannot be ignored,because the composites and foams are sensitive to the change of temperature in the environment. In this study,a series of single-leg bending beams were tested at different temperatures to evaluate the influences of high temperatures on Mode Ⅰ/Ⅱ mixed interfacial fracture of foam core sandwich materials. The temperature was from29 ℃ to 90 ℃,covered the glass transition temperature of composites and foam core,respectively. The Mode Ⅰ/Ⅱ mixed interfacial crack prorogation and its corresponding interfacial strain energy release rate were summarized.

Techniques for the Preparation of Porous Metals

Porous metals have been developed greatly and swiftly in recent years. In this paper, main types of these materials are described briefly, and their preparation methods are related primarily, with the purpose offering some clues for optimizing the producing technology.

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.

Analysis on Dynamic Response of Hard-Soft-Hard Sandwich Panel Under Blast Loading

Surface contact explosion experiments have been performed for the study of dynamic response of the hard-soft-hard sandwich panel under blast loading. Experimental results have shown that there are four damage modes, including explosion cratering, scabbing of the backside, radial cracking induced failure and circumferential cracking induced failure. It also illustrates that the foam material sandwiched in the multi-layered media has an important effect on damage patterns. The phenomena encountered have been analyzed by the calculation with ALE method. Meanwhile, the optimal analysis of foam material thickness and position in the sandwich panel were performed in terms of experimental and numerical analysis. The proper thickness proportion of the soft layer is about 2.0% to the thickness of sandwich panel and the thickness of the upper hard layer and lower hard layer is in the ratio of ？ to 3 under the condition in this paper when the total thickness of soft layer remains constant.

Formaldehyde Free Renewable Thermosetting Foam Based on Biomass Tannin with a Lignin Additive

This study presents easily prepared free formaldehyde bio-based foam based on a prepared thermosetting resin comprising tannin–lignin–furfuryl alcohol-glyoxal(TLFG)via mechanical stirring in presence of ether as a foaming agent.The foam was developed through a co-polycondensation reaction of glyoxal and furfuryl alcohol with condensed tannin and lignin,which is a forest-derived product.Investigation using scanning electron microscopy(SEM)showed more closed-cell structure without cracks and collapse in the TLFG foam,with a higher apparent density with respect to tannin–furanic–formaldehyde(TFF)foam.Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC),dynamic thermomechanical analysis(DTMA),and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA)investigations revealed that the curing process of TLFG foam proceeds easily even at a lower temperature.Additionally,it acquired higher heat resistance than TFF foam.Moreover,TLFG has a more robust chemical network structure,which contributes efficiently to the mechanical strength and a lower pulverization degree compared with TFF-derived foam.Fourier transform infrared spectrometry(FTIR)and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(ESI-MS)proved that the cross-inking reactions between tannin,lignin,furfuryl alcohol,and glyoxal have been proceeded efficiently.

Effect of Foam Cladding for Blast Mitigation:Numerical Simulation

Two numerical simulations were performed to investigate the protective effect of the foam cladding. One simulation is based on a previous experimental study, which is a ballistic pendulum with and without a foam cladding subjected to close-range blast loading. The other model is a steel beam with and without a foam cladding under blast loading. The overpressure due to the blast event can be calculated by the empirical function ConWep or by an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) coupling model. The first approach is relatively simple and widely used. The second approach can model the propagation of the blast wave in the air and the interaction between the air and the solid. It is found that the pendulum with the foam cladding always swings to a larger rotation angel compared to a bare pendulum. However, the steel beam with an appropriate foam cladding has a smaller deflection compared to the bare beam without a foam cladding. It is concluded that the protective effect of the foam cladding depends on the properties of the foam and the protected structure.

Foam structure to improve microwave absorption properties of silicon carbide/carbon material

Foam structure materials are well known for their lightweight,efficient,and broadband microwave absorption properties compared to bulk material.However,little has been understood about the effect of a foam structure on the absorption performance of the foam material.In this study,the role of foam structure properties of the silicon carbide/carbon(SiC/C)foam material on microwave absorption is explored using experiment and simulation.We find that the foam structure of SiC/C foam material causes diffraction,multiple reflections,improves the interfacial polarization,and compatibilization.The absorption performance of SiC/C foam material is also studied.The-10 dB effective absorption bandwidth can be adjusted from 4.0 GHz to 18 GHz by tuning SiC/C foam material thickness to 3-7 mm.Therefore,the foam structure design is an effective way to improve the absorption performance of the SiC/C foam material.

Additive Manufacturing of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Sandwich Structures with Multiscale Cellular Cores

The use of composite sandwich structures with cellular cores is prevalent in lightweight designs owing to their superior energy-absorbing abilities.However,current manufacturing processes,such as hot-press molding and mold pressing,require multiple steps and complex tools,thus limiting the exploration of advanced sandwich structure designs.This study reports a novel multi-material additive manufacturing(AM)process that allows the single-step production of continuous fiber-reinforced polymer composite(CFRPC)sandwich structures with multiscale cellular cores.Specifically,the integration of CFRPC-AM and in situ foam AM processes provides effective and efficient fabrication of CFRPC panels and multiscale cellular cores with intricate designs.The cellular core design spans three levels:microcellular,unit-cell,and graded structures.Sandwich structures with a diverse set of unit-cell designs,that is,rhombus,square,honeycomb,and re-entrant honeycomb,were fabricated and their flexural behaviors were studied experimentally.The results showed that the sandwich structure with a rhombus core design possessed the highest flexural stiffness,strength,and specific energy absorption.In addition,the effect of the unit-cell assembly on the flexural performance of the CFRP composite sandwich structure was examined.The proposed design and fabrication methods open new avenues for constructing novel and high-performance CFRPC structures with multiscale cellular cores that cannot be obtained using existing approaches.