ABSTRACT
Foam has long been known as a useful product in making our way of life better. Low-density foam was made in the laboratory before World War II, after which it took off in civilian applications. In a few years, polyurethane (PU) and polystyrene foams became strong performance platforms to deliver a variety of products in floatation and packaging industries. They expanded into furniture and food segments, then into construction, medical, sports, automotive, aerospace, electronics, etc. A recent market research report indicated a steady growth in consumption to exceed 50 billion lb. by 2019 [1]. There is no doubt that technology plays a critical role in the development history. When communication basically revolutionized our way of living and doing business, the push for new technology has become ever critical in the last decade. As a result, many resources have been spent on new foam technology. It was estimated that the average number of good publications in foam was over 2000 per month in 2014. It is quite diversified. However, the
CONTENTS
1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................1 1.2 Blowing Agent ................................................................................................2 1.3 Microcellular Foaming ..................................................................................5 1.4 Performance ....................................................................................................8 1.5 Degradable Foam ......................................................................................... 11 1.6 Three-Dimensional Printing (Additive Manufacturing) ....................... 13 1.7 Hardware Development for Lower Density ............................................ 16 1.8 Nanocelullar Foaming ................................................................................ 18 References ...............................................................................................................22
