Publications
Thermal Aging of the Polyurethane Foam for the H1616 Shipping Container
A polyurethane foam used in the H1616 shipping container provides impact energy absorption and fire protection in hypothetical accident conditions. This study was undertaken to determine the estimated lifetime of the foam as a function of temperature. The foams were aged at temperatures ranging from 65°C to 95°C for periods of time ranging from 6 months to 6 years. Both destructive and nondestructive Dynamic Mechanical Analyses (DMA) were used to evaluate the performance of the foams as a function of time and temperature. In addition, color changes and weight loss were recorded. Three properties of the foam show a definite trend with aging time: weight loss, nondestructive G’ (measured at 100°C), and glassy G’. A time temperature superposition analysis shows a reasonable trend with temperature for both the weight loss and glassy G’. The acceleration factors for weight loss and glassy G’ did not correlate with each other, however. A prediction of the behavior of G’ as a function of aging time at 25°C was derived from an extrapolated value of the acceleration factor. In addition to providing a quantitative estimation of the aging process, the curve also provides a description of the qualitative features of the aging process. First, the aging process appears to proceed smoothly as a function of aging time. There are no discontinuities or sharp breaks in the glassy G’ as a function of aging time at any of the temperatures. Second, the rate of change of the glassy G’ appears to decrease as the aging time increases.