6. Conclusion

Controlling the reactive expansion of polyurethane foams in molds with complex geometries is a highly complex task. To better describe the physico-chemical mechanisms involved in foaming, it is necessary to make numerous (often over-simplifying) assumptions in an attempt to (semi)analytically determine the evolution of foam porosity and viscosity (or viscoelasticity), in order to link structural properties to process conditions.

At least a phenomenological description of reactive foaming requires a number of detailed experiments: DSC, rheometry, XRD and RheoFoam are just some examples. In all cases, the aim is to measure the evolution of thermomechanical and/or microstructural properties in situ during the reaction, in order to extract information about the chemical reactions.

The use of an ad-hoc simulation tool is also essential to better...