ABSTRACT
Microcellular slow recovery polyurethane foams (the PORON®⋆ brand) from Rogers Corporation, were studied in the context of use as insole cushions in shoes. The effect of environmental factors inside a shoe, such as temperature, humidity, compression strain rate and compression time, on properties such as stiffness, impact attenuation and recovery profile were evaluated. Two slow recovery grades with low and high modulus were compared with their analogous high resiliency grades of equivalent density and thickness. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and FTIR spectroscopy were used to correlate the effect of environmental parameters on the ultimate properties, morphology and thermal transitions of these foams.
