RIGID POLYURETHANE FOAM AS AN ENERGY ABSORBING CORE FOR COMPOSITE COMPONENTS MANUFACTURED BY RESIN TRANSFER MOLDING (RTM) .1. DETERMINATIONOF PROPERTIES

Citation
Jj. Carruthers et Am. Robinson, RIGID POLYURETHANE FOAM AS AN ENERGY ABSORBING CORE FOR COMPOSITE COMPONENTS MANUFACTURED BY RESIN TRANSFER MOLDING (RTM) .1. DETERMINATIONOF PROPERTIES, Cellular polymers, 16(1), 1997, pp. 1-13
Citations number
11
Categorie Soggetti
Polymer Sciences","Materials Science, Biomaterials
Journal title
ISSN journal
02624893
Volume
16
Issue
1
Year of publication
1997
Pages
1 - 13
Database
ISI
SICI code
0262-4893(1997)16:1<1:RPFAAE>2.0.ZU;2-P
Abstract
With the increasing awareness of the importance of crashworthy design in virtually every transport sector there comes a requirement for mate rials with good energy absorption properties. This paper describes one such material, a rigid polyurethane foam, which can also be used as a core material for composite components manufactured by resin transfer moulding (RTM). An experimental investigation into the crushing respo nse of this foam has demonstrated that the energy absorbed per unit ma ss increases with foam density. This is an important observation. The non-linear increase in energy absorption with density indicates that, in non-mass critical applications, there is an incentive to sacrifice mass for improved energy absorption capability.