A method for manufacturing an insulation block, preferably an insulation plate, in which method the casting mold is adjusted to a desired size by moving at least one wall of the casting mold, the pre-expanded polystyrene, polypropylene or polyethylene beads are led to the casting mold, the pre-expanded polymer beads are steamed in the casting mold, and the formed finished insulation block is removed from the mold. In a method according to the invention at least one wall of the casting mold is moved during the steaming and/or during the cooling phase after the steaming.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a molding made from blowing agent-containing foam comprising at least one fiber (F), wherein the at least one fiber (F) is partially introduced into the blowing agent-containing foam. The two ends of the respective fiber (F) that are not surrounded by the blowing agent-containing foam thus project from one side of the corresponding molding. The present invention also provides the molding as such. The present invention further provides a panel comprising at least one such molding, produced by the process according to the invention, and at least one further layer (S1). The present invention also provides for the production of the panels of the invention and for the use thereof, for example as a rotor blade in wind turbines.

A method of sub-ambient pressure processing of blow-molded polymer foams and skin-over-foam sandwich panel configurations for lightweight components having improved structural properties. The method can create either skinned or un-skinned foams that offer smooth interior and exterior surfaces, zero or controlled surface porosity, skins of pre-defined thickness, and foam cells that are expanded and oriented normal to the material plane, effectively spherical or polyhedral in nature, and offering improved bending and compressive strength.

The present invention provides a soft polyurethane foam molded article (1) that has a mounting surface (1A) and is obtained by foam-molding a foaming stock solution. The soft polyurethane foam molded article (1) includes a plurality of layered parts (11 and 12) that form layers in a vertical direction (Y) perpendicular to the mounting surface. A plurality of foaming cells included in each of the layered parts have a ratio of a size in a lateral direction (X) along the mounting surface with respect to a size in the vertical direction that becomes larger as the foaming cells become positioned closer to the side of the mounting surface (1A) in the vertical direction. At boundaries (C1 and A2) between the layered parts adjacent to each other in the vertical direction, the ratio of a foaming cell included in the layered part (11) on the side of the mounting surface is lower than the ratio of a foaming cell included in the layered part (12) on the side of a back surface (1B) opposite to the side of the mounting surface.

An extruded polymer foam has a polymer matrix with styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer and infrared attenuator and cell having an average size in the foam vertical direction of 150 micrometers or less, a ratio of vertical cell E size to extrusion direction cell size that is greater than one and a cell anisotropic ratio that is greater than 1.1; the foam having a P-Ratio of 0.7 or less, less than 0.2 moles of hydrocarbon blowing agent in the cells per kilogram of foam; a density of 20-48 kilograms per cubic meter and a 25-year thermal conductivity that is 0.030 Waters per meter-Kelvin or less when free of fluorinated blowing agents and less than 0.029 Watts per meter-Kelvin when containing fluorinated blowing agent.

A method of manufacturing a foam body having an anisotropic cell structure, the method including the steps of: expanding a polymer at an elevated temperature to form an initial foam body; and cooling the initial foam body under a negative pressure. There is also provided a method of manufacturing a foam body having an anisotropic cell structure, the method including the steps of: (a) in a first expansion step, expanding a foamable polymer composition substantially isotropically to form an initial foam body having an isotropic cell structure; and (b) in a second expansion step, expanding the initial foam body anisotropically in a selected direction under a negative pressure which applies an expanding force in the selected direction to provide a final foam body having an anisotropic cell structure. Apparatus for the methods are also disclosed.

A method for manufacturing an insulation block, preferably an insulation plate, in which method the casting mould is adjusted to a desired size by moving at least one wall of the casting mould, the pre-expanded polystyrene, polypropylene or polyethylene beads are led to the casting mould, the pre-expanded polymer beads are steamed in the casting mould, and the formed finished insulation block is removed from the mould. In a method according to the invention at least one wall of the casting mould is moved during the steaming and/or during the cooling phase after the steaming.

A method for manufacturing an insulation block, preferably an insulation plate, in which method the casting mold is adjusted to a desired size by moving at least one wall of the casting mold, the pre-expanded polystyrene, polypropylene or polyethylene beads are led to the casting mold, the pre-expanded polymer beads are steamed in the casting mold, and the formed finished insulation block is removed from the mold. In a method according to the invention at least one wall of the casting mold is moved during the steaming and/or during the cooling phase after the steaming.

A process for manufacturing products made of foamed polymeric material, comprising the following steps: generating, via software, a virtual model (M) of a product to be manufactured in a solid foamable polymeric material; performing a topological optimization via software of the virtual model (M) in order to obtain an optimized virtual model (MO) with areas of differentiated relative density; preparing the foamable polymeric material and inserting it in a mold (1); solubilizing, under pressure, at least one foaming agent in the foamable polymeric material placed in the mold (1) with a pressure profile of the foaming agent variable over time and/or space as a function of the topological optimization; releasing the pressure in order to obtain a product (S) made of foamed polymeric material provided with the above-mentioned areas of differentiated relative density; removing the product (S) made of foamed polymeric material from the mold (1).

A method and compression mold are provided for producing a sandwich component, in which an outer shell and an inner shell are compressed, together with foam particles in a cavity between the shells, which cavity is formed by two mold halves of a mold, under pressure and at an increased temperature to form the sandwich component. At least one mold half is heated in a first temperature-control zone to a higher maximum temperature than in a second temperature-control zone.