Syntactic Foam, What Is It And How Do You Make It
Syntactic Foam, What is itand How Do You Make ItPresented byCliff RedusRedus EngineeringDELIVERING KNOWLEDGE.2009 Psubs ConventionDEVELOPING COMPETENCE.Redus Engineering
Topics9 Open vs. Closed Cell Foams9 What’s the Problem with Open Cell9 What’s a Syntactic Foam9 Syntactic Foam Resins9 How Phil Nuytten Makes SyntacticFoam9 Design Objectives - R300 SyntacticFoam9 Syntactic Foam Selected for R3002009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Open vs. Closed Cell Foams9 Open-cell foam, tiny cells of the foamare not completely closed. They arebroken and air or water fills all of the“open” space inside the material.9 Closed-cell foam differs in that all of itstiny foam cells are closed and packedtogether. They are filled with a gas.2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Open Cell Foams – at Depth94” Styrofoam cup (OpenCell Foam)9ROV to 3000 fsw9Surface 0 psig 3000 ft1,333 psig (93 bar)9Cup shrivels to half of itsoriginal size.92009 Psubs ConventionMonterey Bay AquariumRedus Engineering
Problem - Open-Cell FoamsSURFACEDisplacmen t Volume x Specific WeightDisplacmen t (1 ft )31 ft lb fx 64 3 ft3000 fswDisplacmen t (0 .5 ft )3 lb f 0 .125 ft x 64 3 ft31/2 ft2009 Psubs Convention 64 lb f lb fx 64 3 ft 8 lb f 9 Lost 56 lbf of displacementRedus Engineering
What is a Syntactic Foam?9A lightweight engineered foam consisting ofmanufactured glass hollow microspheres andfiberglass macrospheres embedded in a resinmatrix.9Microspheres typically range from 10 to 200microns in diameter.9Macrospheres typically range from 1/4” to 1/2”indiameter.9Syntactic foam has a very high compressivestrength-to-weight ratio.2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Why Syntactic Foam?AlvinSyntacticFoamMax Depth 14,700 ft (4500 meters)9 Adds Depth Independent Buoyancy2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Syntactic FoamMacrospheresMicrospheres Resin2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
3M Glass Bubblesρ BulkPF ρTrue(Unreinforced)9Packing Factor variesfrom 55% to 68%9Strength reinforced byresin (Cuming Corp)9Microspheres - Withrigid epoxy, six timesgreater strength thanunsupported9Macrospheres - Withrigid epoxy , two timesgreater strength thanunsupported2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Syntactic Foam Resins?9Epoxy,9Vinylester9Polyester2009 Psubs ConventionResinRedus Engineering
Resin - Mechanical Properties8 Mpa 1160 psi2009 Psubs Convention3.7 Gpa 537,000 psiRedus Engineering
Resin - Micro-Cracking2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Resin - Degradation fromWater Ingress2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Email - Phil Nuytten9Winnowing - Glass microspheres are heavier than epoxymicrospheres – but less duds. You should “winnow” either ifyou want absolute max efficiency – pour them into a fivegallon pail of water (or bigger) with a bottom drain, agitate, letsit and the partially formed spheres will sink, drain, then pouroff floaters into a shallow tray to dry.9Binder - Bear in mind that the epoxy is just a binder. Youshouldn't relay on it as a strength member – though, ofcourse it is to all except the surface spheres. That means itcan be the cheapest stuff you can buy in quantity. It doesn'teven have to be rigid – could also be urethane, polyester, etc.,although rigid foam is much easier to mount.2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Email - Phil Nuytten9The essential thing for light foam is the use of macro-spheresin conjunction with the microspheres mix. These are epoxyspheres about the size of kids marbles. We buy them from afirm called Emerson Cummings.9The biggest problem in thick castings is “Hydrotherming”you must pour in layers and allow to gel before the next oneor the foam will crack. Cracked foam weeps for hours andeven days after a dive and makes an awful mess.9Shaping vs. Casting You can’t shape the macrosphere massafter it’s cast, because you will cut into the macrospheres.Well, that is true for optimum buoyancy, but you can shape itand live with the outside layer loss – fill in the exposed partialspheres with a thixotropic microsphere/binder coasting.2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
We do our stuff thus:9Plug: Use body putty, over a rough Styrofoam shape to wind upwith a finished plug – exactly as you want the finished part to be.9Female Mold Use the plug to make a conventional female mold infiberglass. Arrange the mold so that the bottom or not seensurface/side is not sealed. Lay up gelcoast and a couple of layersof clothe/mat in the usual fashion – make this skin thin aspossible while still being rigid enough to hold the foam withoutdistorting.9Restrain Macrospheres Pour a 2-3 inch layer ofmicrospheres/binder mix. Put about 6 inches deep ofmacrospheres – then put a heavy cardboard or thin plywood orsimilar cover on top of the macrospheres. This will be cut toshape so that the macrospheres can’t escape around the edgeswhen you put weights on the cover to force the macrospheresinto the microspheres mix.2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
We do our stuff thus:9Done right the macrospheres will be forced to the bottom of themold and the microspheres /binder mix will not wet the toplayers of macrospheres under the cover or hold-down platform9Building Layers - when it goes off, remove the weights andcover, turn the mold upside down and dump out the loosemacrospheres. Put in another 2-3 inches layer and repeat.9Vacuum not needed - Using this process, there is no need tovacuum the micro/binder mix. You get roughly 6 inches of buildper pour - a two foot block takes four pours.9Overheating There is not problem with overheating if you don’texceed 3 inches of microsphere/binder.9Fabrication Time Takes about one full day to makes a set offoam blocks for a Deep Worker class sub.Hope this helps Phil Nuytten.2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
R300-Syntactic FoamSyntactic Foam located outsidegreen pressure hull and inside yellowhydrodynamic shell2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
R300-Syntactic FoamVolume 15.5 ft3Weight 402 lbs22% Displacement 967 lbsNet Buoyancy 565 lbs2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
SYNTACTIC FOAM OFOAMPLUGMOLDPRESSUREHULLPLUGMOLD122009 Psubs Convention3-PIECEFEMALESPLIT MOLD3LAY UP2-PIECESHELL4PLACESYNTACTICIN ANNULUS5Redus EngineeringFINAL6
R300-Syntactic FoamObjectives999Target density of 26 lbm/ft3 or SG of 0.42Max Operating depth of 300 ftSlow Cure Time (2 days) to allow exothermicheat to dissipate to prevent cracking inlarge 16 ft3 casting.9Low viscosity ( 400 cp) of catalyzed resin toenable resin to flow into void space9Structurally strong enough to support boaton trailer2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
R300-Syntactic Foam9Microspheres 3M K1, unsupported crushstrength 250 psi, reinforced crush strength 1500psi with rigid epoxy binder9Macrospheres - Cumings Corp BA-38 1/4-3/8"12-15 lbm/ft3, unsupported crush strength 500psi, reinforced crush strength 1000 psi99Resin - Ribelin Huntsman Araldite GY-9667 withCatalyst - Huntsman Jeffamine D-230Polyoxypropylenediamine99Resin:Catalyst Weight Ratio 100:29.46Vol Mix Ratio - microspheres/resin of 1.52009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Syntactic Foam – R300Volume RequiredResin PropertiesSyntactic FoamVolume of Syntactic Foam ( ft3)15.5SG of Part ASG of Part BViscosity Part A @ 77 F (cp)Viscosity Part B @ 77 F (cp)Part A by weightPart B by weightFraction of Part A by wtFraction of Part B by wtFraction of Part A by VolFraction of Part B by VolDensity of Resin (lbm/ft3)Mixture Viscosity (cp) @ 77 FMacro and Micro SpheresSG of Microsphere(true)SG of Macrosphere(true)Mixture FractionsFraction of Microspheres by volumeFraction of Macrospheres by volumeFraction of Resin by volumeFoam Mixture Density 6.2375ResinFoam Density2009 Psubs Convention0.1250.2160.1930.5500.25725.9MassesMass of Microspheres (lbm)Mass of Macrospheres (lbm)Mass of Resin (lbm)Mass of Resin Part A (lbm)Mass of Resin Part B (lbm)Mass of FoamMass Mix Ratio - microspheres/resinVolumesPacking factor for microspheresBulk Volume of Microspheres (gals)True Volume of Microspheres (gals)Packing factor for macrospheresBulk Volume of Macrospheres (gals)Volume of Macrospheres (gals)Volume of Resin Part AVolume of Resin Part BVolume of Resin mixture (gals)Bulk Vol Mix Ratio - microspheres/resinCostCost/pound - MicrospheresCost/pound - MacrospheresCost/gal - ResinCost - MicrospheresCost - MacrospheresCost - G’sVary to get 6.80 4.79 25.00 191.60 1,500.00 745.32 2,436.92Mixture Fractions CostRedus EngineeringPF’sUnitCost 157/ft3
Volume Ratios – Microspheres to Resin1:1 Vm:Vr1.5:1 Vm:Vr2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Bench Testing Macro Micro Resin2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Bench Testing2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Bench Testing2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Pressure Hull2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Plug Mold – Expanded PolystyreneEPS – ExpandedPolystyrene(STYROFOAM)2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Plug Mold - Body Filler Over EPS Foam2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Completed Plug Mold2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Split Mold After Removing From Plug2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Female Split Mold Taken from Plug Mold2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Preparing to Lay up FRP Shell2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
FRP Shell – Bottom Half2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
After Filling with Syntactic Foam2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
R300 on Trailer2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
Conclusions9Syntactic foam can be made in a garage but isexpensive999Engineered material tailored to needMacrospheres are key to low densitySphere diameters and thickness are depthdependent9999“Winnowing” required for max efficiencyBinder – Polyester is lower cost but weakerBinder – Epoxy is stronger but more costly“Hydrotherming” issue for large castings2009 Psubs ConventionRedus Engineering
9Syntactic Foam Resins 9How Phil Nuytten Makes Syntactic Foam 9Design Objectives - R300 Syntactic Foam . matrix. 9Microspheres typically range from 10 to 200 . 9Microspheres 3M K1, unsupport
2. How has the Floral Foam (Phenolic Foam) with Resin Manufacturing industry performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years ? 3. What is the Project Feasibility of a Floral Foam (Phenolic Foam) with Resin Manufacturing Plant ? 4. What are the requirements of Working Capital for setting up a Floral Foam with Resin Manufacturing
Non-Fire Fighting Products PAGE 10 Foam Compatibility PAGE 11 Foam Standards PAGE 12 Why is Foam Testing Required? PAGE 14 Foam Test Reports PAGE 15 How to Take Foam Samples PAGE 16 Foam Test Kits PAGE 18 Foam Testing Equipment & Training PAGE 20 Environmental Issues PAGE 21 www.firefightingfoam.com.
representation of syntactic structures. Representation of syntactic structures can be presented in three ways: statements of the correct sequence of the parts of speech (syntactic categories), by series of transformational rules and by parsing diagrams. Syntactic categorie
Foam content in mix :ak 0.012 0.010 0.013 0.008 n. Foam volume required additional :mx 1000 15% 12 10 13 8 o. Foam output :measure flow rates p. Time of pumping :n/o q. Actual density of foam concrete (wet) :measure (weight) 1048 1099 1043 1091 Table 1.0 : Design mixes for foam concrete specimens All foam concrete specimens were cast in steel .
FOAM CONCENTRA TES Fire-fighting foam is a stable mass of small bubbles of lower density than most flammable liquids and water. Foam is a blanketing and cooling agent that is produced by mixing air into a foam solution that contains water and foam concentrate. EXPANSION RA TES Expansion rate is the ratio of finished foam produced
FIRE FIGHTING - E1300 Series Foam Eductor is a type of foam proportioner that is designed to introduce a foam concentrate into the water streams to produce firefighting foam. These eductors are constant flow devices that produce accurate proportioning of foam concentrate at a specified flow and pressure. Foam eductors are usually portable .
foam type is used when fighting a fire. e) Foam compatibility with dry chemical needs to be evaluated where response plans include use of dry chemical with foam. Check with the foam manufacturer to see if they have this information. Finished foams can be compromised with the application of dry chemicals over the surface of the finished foam.
Waterhead 1003 1346 St James 1041 1393 Chadderton South 1370 964 Failsworth West 1596 849 Chadderton North 2038 791 Chadderton Central 2096 695 Failsworth East 2234 643 Shaw 2295 893 Royton South 3008 628 Royton North 3297 808 Crompton 3858 510 Saddleworth West and Lees 3899 380 Saddleworth North 5892 309 Saddleworth South 6536 260 3.3 There is a wealth of evidence to suggest links between .
