Foam survives temperature changes
A
Zotefoams product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 26, 2008
Zotek N B50 has a low coefficient of thermal expansion, reducing dimensional changes and the likelihood of warpage, particularly in bigger parts, during large changes in temperature.
Zotefoams has carried out a series of tests on the thermal properties of its Zotek N B50 polyamide foam and show the material's suitability for long-term high-temperature use and applications requiring dimensional stability.
In addition to thermal expansion measurements, long-term heat aging tests included material dimensional stability, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and degradation of mechanical strength.
The dimensional stability at elevated temperatures is important in many applications.
Zotek N B50 has a low coefficient of thermal expansion, reducing dimensional changes and the likelihood of warpage, particularly in bigger parts, during large changes in temperature.
As with all foams, it will exhibit shrinkage after exposure to higher temperatures and this is typically greater with increasing temperatures, longer exposure times and thinner foam material.
Shrinkage was negligible (less than 1%) for long-term use at 130 and at 160C, and remained minimal (up to 4% after 1000 hours) for thicknesses less than 10 mm.
Even at 190C during short-term exposure, shrinkage remained at acceptable levels (less than 5%).
In common with other polymers, the mechanical stiffness (modulus) of Zotek N B50 decreases with increasing temperature.
After environmental conditioning, it loses much of its low-temperature stiffness and maintains a relatively constant modulus over the temperature range 0 to 180C.
Loss of mechanical stiffness does not become significant until 180C, a full 50C higher than expanded polypropylene (EPP) foams.
The rate of polymer degradation increases with increasing temperature, particularly when exposed to air.
Degradation can lead to loss of strength and embrittlement and was measured by means of loss of mechanical strength after long-term exposure to hot air.
There is little effect on the strength of N B50 after long-term aging (1000 hours) up to 130C.
The environment and physical demands of an application are important when determining the upper usable temperature and these laboratory simulations have merely been conducted using generic tests to aid design.
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