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Computer simulation optimizes polyurethane
Foam without troublesome bubbles
As predicted: Dr. Bolko Raffel (left) and Dr. Peter Wulf compare the simulation with the laboratory test.
Polyurethanes are used for a wide variety of applications: mattresses, car seats, refrigerator insulation and leisure shoes are just a few examples. When such differently shaped molds are filled with polyurethane foam, air bubbles can form which lower the quality of the parts. Researchers from Bayer MaterialScience have developed a simulation program to eliminate these troublesome ‘voids’.
A difficult material – an intelligent solutionifficult material
A program of this type has a challenging task because a foaming polyurethane system changes its properties radically during the reaction time. The research team started by examining the polyurethane material in great detail. A vast number of mathematical equations and parameters had to be taken into account. The following article shows how the problem was solved using a technique known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and describes other applications for the simulation program.
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