AUTHOR(S): 

Jeong-Hyeon Kim, Seul-Kee Kim, Sungkyun Park, Kang Hyun Park, Jae-Myung Lee

TITLE

Low-temperature Mechanical Behavior of Reinforced Polyurethane Foam

KEYWORDS

Polyurethane foam, reinforced insulation, low-temperature, mechanical strength

ABSTRACT

Polyurethane foam has been adopted not only as an insulating material in LNG storage tanks for LNG carriers but also in fuel tanks for LNG fueled ships owing to its high mechanical strength compared to other types of insulating materials. They are required to adopt an insulating material with high mechanical strength in order to withstand sloshing impact load because LNG storage and fuel tank systems are operated at cryogenic temperatures. Polyurethane foams which have closed cell structure are used in the applications especially liquefied natural gas storage system with superior mechanical characteristics at low-temperatures. In addition, carbon nanotubes are known for its excellent mechanical properties and low density. However, they cannot be adopted solely in liquefied natural gas storage system because carbon nanotubes are nanomaterials. In this study, reinforced polyurethane foams were fabricated by adopting carbon nanotube reinforcement material. Compression tests were then conducted in order to compare the mechanical properties of polyurethane foam composites at room and cryogenic temperatures. Finally, the cellular structure effects of additives were investigated.

Cite this paper

Jeong-Hyeon Kim, Seul-Kee Kim, Sungkyun Park, Kang Hyun Park, Jae-Myung Lee. (2017) Low-temperature Mechanical Behavior of Reinforced Polyurethane Foam. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2, 15-18