METHODS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF FOAM STRUCTURES

摘要

The properties of plastic foams not only depend on the material but also on the structure of the foam. Hence the type of the structure is an key feature and its analysis is of importance. So far this analysis is usually carried out manually. For that purpose, the foam cells are counted and occasionally measured. Therefore, only a few foam characteristics can be collected and furthermore the analysis is mostly rather subjective. The results of foam analysis vary depending on the used method and the executor. The presented automatic optical analysis methods make it possible to evaluate the structure of the foam more uniformly and accurately than before. With two-dimensional foam analysis, consistent characteristics are used - cell area and roundness, for example. Using models to represent the foam structure, the system calculates the characteristic features of the structure, such as cell size distribution and expansion rate of the foam. The also presented and newly developed three-dimensional processes make it possible to analyse the foam structure even more precisely and analyse open cell foams.