pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S04 - Modeling and Simulation
Oral Presentation
 
 

Modeling the Dimensional Stability of Chemically Blown Foam

Long Kevin N (1)*, Rao Rekha (1), Mondy Lisa (1)

(1) Sandia National Laboratories - NM - USA

Shape stability of high-density structural foams is an important requirement for many applications. Unfortunately, heterogeneities generated during manufacture have been shown to cause time-dependent deformation in components both immediately after manufacture and over much longer time scales. In our project, we are using a coupled computational approach to correlate the effects of the manufacturing process on the shape of polyurethane foams during the manufacturing process and over longer time-scales. We have coupled fluid mechanics foam injection and polymerization calculations to a non-linear viscoelastic constitutive equation for the solid response, in order to simulate the cradle-to-grave manufacturing consequences on glassy foam shape stability. Manufacturing conditions often generate spatial variation in material properties especially in large foam components. These spatial variations arise from a variety of mechanisms such as resin injection location, foam flow and expansion, exothermic polymer reactions and temperature gradients and all lead to cure and density variations. We hypothesize that spatial variations in extent of reaction and macroscale foam density will, upon foam release from the mold, generate spatial gradients in stress that will then viscoelastically relax at different rates as the component ages creating dimensional stability issues. Our computational approach is used to verify this hypothesis. *Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.