Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams
Microcellular polymer foams (MCF) are thermoplastic foams with very small cell diameters, less than 10 microns, and very large cell densities, 10(exp 9) to 10(exp 15) cells per cubic centimeter of unfoamed material. The concept of foaming polymers with microcellular voids was conceived to reduce the...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:19940025978 2023-05-15T14:52:32+02:00 Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams Cunningham, Daniel J. Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available Feb 1, 1994 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19940025978 unknown Document ID: 19940025978 Accession ID: 94N30483 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19940025978 Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright CASI NONMETALLIC MATERIALS NASA, Washington, Technology 2003: The Fourth National Technology Transfer Conference and Exposition, Volume 1; p 385-391 1994 ftnasantrs 2019-08-31T23:11:43Z Microcellular polymer foams (MCF) are thermoplastic foams with very small cell diameters, less than 10 microns, and very large cell densities, 10(exp 9) to 10(exp 15) cells per cubic centimeter of unfoamed material. The concept of foaming polymers with microcellular voids was conceived to reduce the amount of material used for mass-produced items without compromising the mechanical properties. The reasoning behind this concept was that if voids smaller than the critical flaw size pre-existing in polymers were introduced into the matrix, they would not affect the overall strength of the product. MCF polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were examined to determine the effects of the microstructure towards the mechanical properties of the materials at room and arctic temperatures. Batch process parameters were discovered for these materials and foamed samples of three densities were produced for each material. To quantify the toughness and strength of these polymers, the tensile yield strength, tensile toughness, and impact resistance were measured at room and arctic temperatures. The feasibility of MCF polymers has been demonstrated by the consistent and repeatable MCF microstructures formed, but the improvements in the mechanical properties were not conclusive. Therefore the usefulness of the MCF polymers to replace other materials in arctic environments is questionable. Other/Unknown Material Arctic NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Arctic |
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Open Polar |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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ftnasantrs |
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unknown |
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NONMETALLIC MATERIALS |
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NONMETALLIC MATERIALS Cunningham, Daniel J. Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams |
topic_facet |
NONMETALLIC MATERIALS |
description |
Microcellular polymer foams (MCF) are thermoplastic foams with very small cell diameters, less than 10 microns, and very large cell densities, 10(exp 9) to 10(exp 15) cells per cubic centimeter of unfoamed material. The concept of foaming polymers with microcellular voids was conceived to reduce the amount of material used for mass-produced items without compromising the mechanical properties. The reasoning behind this concept was that if voids smaller than the critical flaw size pre-existing in polymers were introduced into the matrix, they would not affect the overall strength of the product. MCF polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were examined to determine the effects of the microstructure towards the mechanical properties of the materials at room and arctic temperatures. Batch process parameters were discovered for these materials and foamed samples of three densities were produced for each material. To quantify the toughness and strength of these polymers, the tensile yield strength, tensile toughness, and impact resistance were measured at room and arctic temperatures. The feasibility of MCF polymers has been demonstrated by the consistent and repeatable MCF microstructures formed, but the improvements in the mechanical properties were not conclusive. Therefore the usefulness of the MCF polymers to replace other materials in arctic environments is questionable. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Cunningham, Daniel J. |
author_facet |
Cunningham, Daniel J. |
author_sort |
Cunningham, Daniel J. |
title |
Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams |
title_short |
Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams |
title_full |
Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams |
title_fullStr |
Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams |
title_sort |
improved construction materials for polar regions using microcellular thermoplastic foams |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19940025978 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 19940025978 Accession ID: 94N30483 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19940025978 |
op_rights |
Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
_version_ |
1766323772681355264 |