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pps proceeding
Symposium: S07 - Polymer Foams
Oral Presentation
 
 

Low Pressure Polymer Foaming for the Rotomoulding Process

Pritchard Alex Jonathan (1)*

(1) The Queen's University of Belfast - Belfast - UnitedKingdom

Polymer foams are essential for the manufacture of low cost, lightweight, buoyant structures typical of offshore energy generation devices. The advantages of pressurization for the sintering and densification of rotomoulded polymer powders has been acknowledged in the past. To date though, this has not been explored as a technique for providing a wider processing window in the rotomoulding foam process. A study is conducted to observe the influence of both positive and negative low pressure environments on the consolidation of polymers powders. An offline experimental method was developed, and a further preliminary study conducted, demonstrating how low pressures can be used to assist in the development of polymer foam structures. The method is shown to be capable of providing greater control over cell morphology, offering a quicker route to foam optimality. Full scale rotomoulding trials are planned for a later date, where it is hoped that similar results can be achieved by using the information from this work.