The intricate structure of polymeric foams may be examined using 3D imaging techniques such as MRI or X-ray tomography followed by image processing. Using a new 3D image processing technique, six images of polyurethane foams were analyzed to create computerized 3D models of the samples. Measurements on these models yielded distributions of many microstructural features, including strut length a...

We demonstrate how to derive morphological information from micrographs, i.e., grey-level images, of polymeric foams. The segmentation of the images is performed by applying a pulse-coupled neural network. This processing generates blobs of the foams walls/struts and voids, respectively. The contours of the blobs and their corresponding points form the input to a constrained Delaunay tessellati...

Potential applications of metal foams include light weight cores for sandwich panels, shells and tubes where the foam can increase the resistance to local buckling, increase the impact resistance, and improve the energy absorbing capacity of the structure [1,2]. This latter property offers potential uses in transportation applications where, for example, foam-filling of the hollow sections of a...

Tannin/furanic rigid foams were modi ed by either polymeric 4,4’ diphenylmethane diisocyanate (pMDI) or a one-component polyurethane still presenting reactive isocyanate groups (PUR). Several di erent sequences of mixing the isocyanate and polyurethane with the chemicals used to prepare tannin-based foams were tested. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that addition of either pMDI or PUR...

BANYAY, GREGORY ALLEN, M.S., June 2006, Mechanical Engineering EXAMINATION OF POLYMERIC FOAM AS AN ON-BOARD VEHICULAR HPR HYDROGEN STORAGE MEDIA (113 pp.) Director of Thesis: Bhavin V. Mehta One of the major hurdles to be traversed before a Hydrogen Economy becomes practical, and therefore abundant, is the problem of its storage. An ideal HPR pressure vessel exhibits uniformly sized, spherical ...