The next episode of Tale of the Tape is here! In part one of this mini series on common elastomeric closed cell foam types, Matt Tempelis walks us through neoprene foams, EPDM foams, and blended foams. Check back soon for part two!
Transcript:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Tale of the Tape. I'm Matt Tempelis, President of Engineered Materials, and your Minister of Tape. Today, we'd like to talk a little bit about closed cell elastomeric foams, when to consider them, and their uses. Closed cell foams, remember or think of them as balloons packed tightly within a foam structure. They create great positive seals for moisture and air intrusion, and they recover less than their open cell counterparts after compression. Elastomeric foams are some of the broadest use products for a variety of needs. They carry a lot of automotive specifications as well as train, rail, and aerospace specifications. The density ranges are super wide, from about 2.5 pounds per cubic foot, up to around 30 pounds per cubic foot of density. Compression deflection ranges from around 2 pounds per square inch, all the way up to around 25pounds per square inch. If you're talking about the brand names, you've heard of maybe Ensolite or Monarch or Armacell or Rubatex are often commonly brands available. If you talk about the types of manufacturing processes, they come in bun form, they come in extruded roll form, and these come with a slightly different cellular structure. But like I said, they have a ton of specifications for use in industrial applications, for sealing, for gasketing, for isolators and insulation parts, and they are great products to use broadly for your application needs. Closed cell neoprene foams are a durable, strong foam that can resist chemicals and alkalis. They have decent performance in UV and ozone exposure. Their service temperature is okay at 150°F, intermittent temperatures upwards of 200°F. If you look at the 2001 Monarch from Armacell, it is a 9.5 pounds per cubic foot density product that is a softer product with 3.5 PSI of compression deflection at 25%. Pretty flexible as you can see here, and it still has a strong tear strength of upwards of12 pounds per inch. This beast, the 2045Monarch from Armacell, is 19 pounds per cubic foot of density. It is 21 PSI of compression deflection at 25%, so very stiff and has a very strong tear strength of 25 pounds per inch. You'll notice with this and the other foams that we show today, these are all bun elastomers that have very fine cell structure. And you can see that here. It looks almost like it has a skin but there is no skin here. This is Skived and it has got a fine cell structure. EPDM closed cell foams have excellent outdoor UV, ozone and weathering resistance, best in class heat resistance. It's also best in class for these elastomeric foams. Continuous service temperature ranges of 220°F, upwards of intermittent ranges of 250°F. Also can withstand and stay flexible down to -70°F. The oil and fuel resistance is not the best. It isn't the strongest foam out on the market for shock absorption. If you look at the 3091Armacell’s Monarch product, it is 4 pounds per cubic foot of density. It's a very soft foam with a pressure compression deflection of 3.5 PSI at 25%, but feels a lot softer than that neoprene we were talking about with a tear strength of only 6 pounds per inch. The 3043 product from Armacell is a19 pounds per cubic foot product. A little firmer, 12 PSI compression deflection and a tear strength of 20 pounds per inch, but definitely a softer feel to it than the neoprene counterparts. Blended closed cell neoprene EPDM foams are kind of the best of both worlds. They take some of the benefits of neoprene and EPDM and mash them together. They have great general purpose capabilities for a lot of applications. Good UV, ozone, and weathering just like the EPDM products. At the same time, very good resistance to chemicals, alkalis, and good performance at temperature. These carry the benefit of a UL 94 HF1 rating, so great flammability performance. From a temperature perspective, service temperatures of 200°F and these can resist upwards of 250°Fintermittent exposure. They are not great with oil and fuel exposure. The 5031 is one of our go-to products here. It's a 6 pound per cubic foot density product, 3.5 PSI compression deflection. A very nice soft, flexible product. Fills gaps, great for gasketing with a decent tear strength of7.1 pounds per inch. The 5013 is a firmer version with 9 pounds per cubic foot density, 11 PSI, compression deflection at 25%. It is still pretty flexible for its density and compression deflection, and has a tear strength of9 pounds per inch. Great all around general purpose products here. In this episode, we've touched on some of the most important closed cell elastomeric foams and their uses. We have these and many other products that we can make into parts for your specific application needs. We'll see you next time on Tale of the Tape.
