Introduction on Foam Manufacture

Abstract

This chapter aims to introduce the key and basic points of fundamental knowledge about foaming and the manufacturing processes. The focus of the study is on the polymer foams. To this goal, in the first section, the general mechanism of foaming as well as the process for the formation of water foam and glass foam is presented. In the next section, the role of mixing which is the important process parameter of foam manufacture is studied. Then, the foaming of polymers including nucleation, growth, and stabilization of bubbles is discussed. The diverse processes of polymer foam manufacturing including extrusion, various methods of molding, slab-stock, bead foaming, spraying, thermal degradation/treatment, rotation foaming, microwave sintering, frothing, methods related to the preparation of porous membranes such as casting, phase inversion, etching, etc. are reviewed in the next sections. The classification of these processes is also represented. Moreover, the processes providing special structures like the structural foamed body are studied. It is expected that reading of this chapter provides a useful opening view for academic and industrial readers. In-depth studies based on the information presented in this chapter are necessary for detailed advanced information.