Described herein are methods and systems for forming composite stringer assemblies or, more specifically, for shaping composite charges while forming these stringer assemblies. A system comprises a bladder, having a bladder core, and a bladder skin. The bladder core is formed from foam. The bladder skin is formed from an elastic material and encloses the bladder core. When a composite stringer assembly is formed, the bladder is positioned over a charge base. The charge base later becomes a stringer base, such as a fuselage section or a wing skin. A charge hat is then positioned over the bladder and is conformed to the bladder. A combination of the bladder skin and the bladder core provides support during this forming operation and later while the stringer assembly is cured. In some examples, the bladder core is collapsible for the removal of the bladder from the cavity of the stringer assembly.

A method of creating in situ an acoustic enclosure in a space that is between body panels of a motor vehicle, wherein the space defines an empty volume, the method comprising placing into the space between body panels a molding tool that comprises a solid barrier that divides the space between body panels into an interior portion on an inside of the molding tool and an exterior portion that is external to an outside of the molding tool, where the outside of the molding tool is exposed to the space between body panels, and while the molding tool is in the space between the panels, introducing a fluid material into the exterior portion of the space between the body panels, wherein the fluid material is configured to cure into a solid shell.

A novel material for producing auxetic foams is disclosed. The material comprises a multiphase, multicomponent polymer foam with a filler polymer having a carefully selected glass transition temperature. Novel methods for producing auxetic foams from the material are also disclosed that consistently, reliably and quickly produce auxetic polyurethane foam at about room temperature (25° C.). This technology overcomes challenging issues in the large-scale production of auxetic PU foams, such as unfavorable heat-transmission problem and harmful organic solvents.

Provided are a porous structure and a method of fabricating the same. The porous structure may include an aluminum oxide containing at least one of fluorine and phenyl group. For example, the porous structure may be formed from alumina which contains fluorine or phenyl group. The method of fabricating the porous structure may include preparing an aluminum precursor including at least one of fluorine and phenyl group; providing a precursor solution by mixing the precursor with a solvent; and forming the porous structure having 3-dimensional network structure including the aluminum oxide containing the at least one of fluorine and phenyl group from the precursor solution through gelation.

A resin foamed body 1 is a resin foamed body made of flexible resin, the resin foamed body entirely includes a skeleton part 2, the skeleton part includes a plurality of bone parts 2B and a plurality of connection parts 2J connecting end parts of a plurality of bone parts, and an average value AV(A0/A1) of a ratio A0/A1 of cross-sectional area A0 of a bone change part of each bone part at an edge 2B22 on a bone constant part side relative to cross-sectional area A1 of the bone change part at an edge 2B21 on the connection part side satisfies

0.15≤AV(A0/A1)<0.5.

The compressible sealing element (1) comprises at least one piece made of a resilient foam (17). This foam has an open-cell content of at least 50% and has such a hardness that it requires a force of less than 2000 N to compress the sealing element (1) per meter length thereof to such an extent that the volume of a rectangular cuboid circumscribing the sealing element is reduced by 40%. The sealing element comprises a water-impermeable cover layer (18) which extends at least over its top surface. The sealing element is intended for filling at least partially the gaps between the stock rails (13) and the switch rails (12) in a railway switch to prevent the switch from being blocked in particular by snow. Advantages of the new sealing element is that it can easier be inserted in these gaps and that it has a smaller effect on the force required to close the switch so that it can also be applied closer to the free extremity of the switch rail (12).

A compressible decoy construction involves a thin rubber roto molded outer shell lined with a thicker layer of foam rubber. The interior of the decoy is hollow, thus allowing the decoy to be folded or compressed into a small mass such that when the compressive force is removed, the decoy returns to its full shape due to the memory of the foam rubber lining.

The present disclosure provides a polymeric membrane. The polymeric membrane includes a first thermoplastic elastomer layer. The thermoplastic elastomer layer includes a filler component that is at least about 30 wt % of the thermoplastic elastomer layer. The polymeric membrane can further include an optional second thermoplastic elastomer layer in contact with the first polyolefin layer.

A method for forming a thermoplastic body having regions with varied material composition and/or porosity. Powder blends comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a sacrificial porogen and an inorganic reinforcement or filler are molded to form complementary parts with closely toleranced mating surfaces. The parts are formed discretely, assembled and compression molded to provide a unitary article that is free from discernible boundaries between the assembled parts. Each part in the assembly has differences in composition and/or porosity, and the assembly has accurate physical features throughout the sections of the formed article, without distortion and nonuniformities caused by variable compaction and densification rates in methods that involve compression molding powder blends in a single step.

In general, the present invention is directed to a continuous method of making a polymer foam by using a polymer having a first monomeric component and a second monomeric component. The method employs a tandem type extruder having a first extruder and a second extruder. The method disclosed herein can provide a foam having a desired cell size, cell density, porosity, foam density, and/or thermal conductivity, etc. In turn, the polymer foams produced according to the present method can have numerous applications, such as thermal insulation applications for appliances including ovens, freezers, refrigerators, etc.