Fabrication and Characterization of Green Polyurethane Foams with Enhanced Vibration Damping Capability

Abstract

Over the past decades, there has been an intensive development of the technologies and innovations aimed at increasing the quality of life. This development largely concerns the comfort of use of everyday products that, among others, are products of the automotive, construction, or furniture industries. Considering the increase in the comfort of using products such as cars, houses, and flats, one of the comfort features of their use is the ability to dampen the sounds coming from the outside. Currently, in addition to wood-based boards, mineral wool, or glass wool fillings, polyurethane foams are more often used as soundproofing materials. This article describes the method of obtaining selected mechanical and thermal properties in flexible polyurethane foams with the ability to dampen vibrations, which were obtained with the use of raw materials of natural origin. The results of the tests of thermal stability and the vibration damping coefficient confirmed the possibility of using flexible polyurethane foams of natural origin as an alternative to the previously used vibration damping materials in the construction or the automotive industry.