Evonik Operations Gmbh

Christian Traßl

Thomas Richter

Florian Becker

Vincent Ma Junyong

Denis Holleyn

Andreas Liebe

Christoph Seipel

Melanie Niepert

Kay Bernhard

Mona Ganglauf

Florian Hopf

A process can be used for producing (rigid) particle foams from polymer compositions containing at least one polymer having a glass transition temperature according to ISO 11357-2 of at least 180° C. with an underwater pelletization system.

Production of high temperature polymer based pellets by underwater pelletization at elevated water temperature to produce (rigid) bead foams

(Rigid) foams can be produced by heating a blowing agent containing polymers through the combination of thermal energy with irradiation by microwaves.

Foaming of blowing agent containing polymers through the use of microwaves

A production process can produce foam materials from polymer compositions. This process involves preheating in the foaming of polymers containing blowing agents and subsequent foaming by a thermal process assisted by microwaves.

Foaming process for production of foam materials

Polymer foams based on polyetherimides (PEIs) fulfill the legal specifications demanded by the aviation industry for aircraft interiors. Specifically, the demands on fire characteristics, stability to media and mechanical properties constitute a great challenge here. According to related art, suitable polymer foams are produced as semi-finished products. Reprocessing to give shaped articles is uneconomic in terms of time and material exploitation, for example by virtue of large amounts of cutting waste. The material is suitable in principle and can be processed to give particle foam mouldings. These mouldings can be produced without reprocessing in short cycle times and, hence, economically. Furthermore, this gives rise to new means of functional integration, for example by direct incorporation of inserts etc. in the foam, and with regard to freedom in terms of design.

PEI particle foams for applications in aircraft interiors

High-temperature foams are produced and used in the construction of aeroplanes, ships and rail and other vehicles. In particular, the foams are further processed into sandwich materials by joining with two outer layers. To this end, a novel process is used for producing high-temperature foams (HT foams) which are particularly suitable for producing such sandwich components for lightweight construction. This process achieves an improvement in the processability of the HT foams produced and a weight reduction of the sandwich materials. The HT foams are furthermore rigid particle foams which are markedly more economic to produce than rigid block foams. In particular, a reduction is brought about in resin absorption in fibre composite processes through a process-related optimization of the surface constitution.

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Warmensteinach, Germany

Christian Traßl