Polyurethane foams have good shock-absorbing properties. This article discusses the study of the physical, dynamic analysis, and microstructure of filled polyurethane foams (PUR). We used mineral fillings nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and calcium carbonate (C1) to support and strengthen the foam cell structure to develop shock absorption and thermal resistance properties. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and compression tests compared the mechanic characterization results with different modelling approaches. For studies of physicochemical properties, we used differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). We deduced the flame retardancy mechanism. It appears that a detailed description of the characteristics of viscosity and yield stress must take into consideration the filler's size in comparison to the cell wall's size. The effect of size distribution on the foam's microstructure was given by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Half-open spherical cells were shown to be reduced in size with filling. The filler diffusion in polyurethane foams was used to model the composite foam. We observed that crystalline filler particles were uniformly distributed in the matrix, indicating that the total size is related to the density and is a crucial metric for the level of reinforcement.
Keywords: Polyurethane foams; compression tests; differential scanning calorimetry; dynamic mechanical analysis; scanning electron microscopy; thermogravimetric analysis.
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