Study on the Aging Rules of Rigid Polyurethane Foams at Indoor Storage and Different Hygrothermal Conditions

Abstract

The aging rules of rigid polyurethane foam (PUR) at indoor storage and different hygrothermal conditions have been studied. Four parameters, which are mass, dimension, compressive strength and compressive modulus were tested. At indoor storage, mass, dimension and compressive strength vary slowly with an increase in aging time, while compressive modulus decreases quickly. PUR is sensitive to relative humidity (RH) verified by accelerated hygrothermal aging, and hydrolysis of ester group is the main reason resulting in the decrease of compressive properties. The filling with fire retardant and glass beads had some effect on hygrothermal aging properties of PUR. The addition of fire retardant increased compressive strength with aging time in the total trend, but it made dimension stability worse. The addition of glass beads slightly improved hygrothermal aging properties.

Periodic hygrothermal properties of Salix liquefaction products / isocyanate rigid foam materials

“…They could solve the problems of shortage of fossil fuels and have the potential for the production and synthesis of polyurethane materials. However, rigid polyurethane materials are often impacted by hot and humid environments in the fields of construction and insulation, resulting in aging of the materials and reduced performance (Ostrogorsky et al 1986;Liu et al 2005).…”

“…RPUF are often used in buildings and insulation materials. It is important to study the aging process of RPUF under different temperatures and humidity to save energy and improve people's life quality (Liu et al 2005;Sienkiewicz et al 2019). After a no-load accelerated temperature and humidity aging test, the compressive strength of RPUF does not decrease considerably.…”