Polymeric Foams Structure–Property–Performance: A Design Guide is a response to the design challenges faced by engineers in a growing market with evolving standards, new regulations, and an ever-increasing variety of application types for polymeric foam. Bernard Obi, an author with wide experience in testing, characterizing, and applying polymer foams, approaches this emerging complexity with a practical design methodology that focuses on understanding the relationship between structure–properties of polymeric foams and their performance attributes. The book not only introduces the fundamentals of polymer and foam science and engineering, but also goes more in-depth, covering foam processing, properties, and uses for a variety of applications. By connecting the diverse technologies of polymer science to those from foam science, and by linking both micro- and macrostructure–property relationships to key performance attributes, the book gives engineers the information required to solve pressing design problems involving the use of polymeric foams and to optimize foam performance. With a focus on applications in the automotive and transportation industries, as well as uses of foams in structural composites for lightweight applications, the author provides numerous case studies and design examples of real-life industrial problems from various industries and their solutions. Provides the science and engineering fundamentals relevant for solving polymer foam application problems Offers an exceptionally practical methodology to tackle the increasing complexity of real-world design challenges faced by engineers working with foams Discusses numerous case studies and design examples, with a focus on automotive and transportation Utilizes a practical design methodology focused on understanding the relationship between structure-properties of polymeric foams and their performance attributes

A complete overview of a key plastic One of the most versatile polymer materials, polyurethanes have a unique chemical nature that allows for shaping and molding to fit all sorts of consumer and industrial products – seat cushions, carpets, insulation, coatings, and refrigerators to name a few. Despite its popular uses, polyurethane science has only relatively recently achieved appreciation for the richness of its expression as a polymer family. This book provides a thorough presentation of polyurethane science, technology markets and trend analysis based on recent patents. Although it does not provide ultimate detail (such as explicit information typically in patents), the book has a flow and continuity that allows readers to find all the background necessary to understand any other more detailed polyurethane information found elsewhere. Anyone involved in the polymer and plastics industry will find this book a key resource with features that include: An in-depth summary of the current state of polyurethane research and knowledge Discussion of the applications, manufacture, and markets for polyurethanes Analytical methods, reaction mechanisms, morphology, theoretical techniques, and the selection of chain extenders Polyurethane flexible and rigid foams, elastomers, coatings, adhesives, and medical applications In-depth coverage of governmental regulations, non-isocyanate/non-phosgene routes to polyurethane structure, and industrial routes to environmental, health, and safety risk mitigation

Integral, or structural, foams are one of the most remarkable materials that have been developed over the last fifteen years. As with all rapidly growing fields, the terminology seems to have grown even faster. Thus there are two names for the material structure itself. In the United States and in Japan the term for these plastics is Structural Foams, whereas in Europe and the USSR the term used is usually Integral Foams. We have adhered to the European term in the text and hope our colleagues will bear with us. Integral foams have a specific structure: a cellular core that gradually turns into a solid skin. The skin gives the part its form and stiffness, while the cellular core contributes to the very high strength-to-weight values of the material. These are higher than those of some unfoamed plastics and metals. The sandwich-like structure with its unique mechanical properties was prompted by nature. Wood and bone are strong and light-weight natural materials having a cellular structure. Since the sandwich-like structure of the integral foams resembles that of natural wood, the foams are often referred to as artifical wood or plastic wood, thereby emphasizing not only the formal structural similarity of these materials, but also one of the main functional applications of integral foams - replacement of wooden articles in various fields of engineering and construction.