Polymer Foaming

Overview

Polymeric foams have amazing versatility and unique properties. With applications from packaging to the biomedical and automotive industries, polymeric foams are around us everywhere. This course covers the fundamentals of polymer foaming, processing methods, recent technologies, foam characteristics and applications.

Content

• Fundamentals of polymer/gas mixtures, cell nucleation and growth mechanisms in foaming, and the roles of thermodynamics and kinetics
• Foaming processes, including the common batch foaming, extrusion foaming, foam injection molding and bead foaming methods
• Examination of foam characteristics and the performance of polymeric foams, including process-structure-property relationships; types of foams; microcellular foams; foam density; cell size and cell density; and mechanical, thermal, and other properties of foams
• Applications of foams, including the use of foams for structural purposes, packaging, thermal insulation, sound insulation, noise and vibration control, and functional applications