Flexible polyurethane foam (FPF) is a polymer made from a chemical process that combines polyols and isocyanates. FPF is distinguished by a cellular structure that allows for some compression and resilience, resulting in a cushioning effect. Read More…
Leading Manufacturers
American Excelsior Company
Arlington, TX | 800-777-7645The applications for foam fabricating are only limited by one’s imagination; that is our slogan at American Excelsior. We are a foam supplier who offers many different foam cushions & foam padding for over a dozen industries.
American Foam Products
Painesville, OH | 440-352-3434For innovative and cost-effective fabricated foam packaging, American Foam Products should be your preferred vendor! We utilize a wide range of foams and other materials, including polyethylene, polyurethane, crosslink polyethylene, expanded polystyrene and plastic corrugated, as well as a broad range of manufacturing services and capabilities.
Heubach Corporation
Garland, TX | 800-530-0091Our highly advanced foam solution are ideal for a wide range of applications. We take your satisfaction very seriously which is why we offer custom services to accurately manufacture all of your products.
Flextech
St. Louis Park, MN | 952-345-0012As a leader in the foam fabricating industry, FLEXTECH uses a variety of methods to produce your product including compression and encapsulation molding, vacuum forming, laminating, skiving, and die cutting. To guarantee customer satisfaction, every step of production is closely monitored and examined to ensure it meets FLEXTECH’s exacting standards for quality and customer satisfaction. Your requirements are an essential element in the completion of every product and are meticulously followed.
Luxaire Cushion Company
Newton Falls, OH | 330-872-0995At Luxaire, we realize the importance of customer care. No matter how challenging the project, we fabricate our foam with the utmost precision to get it right the first time. Available foams include rigid, semi-rigid, open-cell, and outdoor foam. We are capable of performing detailed fabrication with our cutting-edge CAD production equipment.
Wisconsin Foam Products, Inc.
Madison, WI | 800-989-3626Wisconsin Foam is a foam supplier that serves a multitude of applications & industries with highly targeted, cost-effective precision flexible foam solutions— no matter the size or complexity.
Thrust Industries
Evansville, IN | 800-467-6730Here at Thrust Industries we provide die cut foam that comes in a variety of shapes and configurations. We die cut foam from a number of materials including: urethane, PVC, polyester, neoprene, ether, cellular, volara, and much more.
Packaging Strategies, Inc.
Baltimore, MD | 410-547-7877Packaging Strategies is a leading foam fabricator with over 30 years experience in the design and manufacturing of flexible foam packaging solutions and products. With state of the art in house engineering and computer controlled fabrication machinery PSI has become one of the leading suppliers in the industry. Foams products include flexible polyethylene’s, polyurethanes, cross linked. Specializing in case and container inserts and cushion and vibration analysis PSI is an excellent choice for your next project.
Design Converting, Inc.
Grand Rapids, MI | 616-942-7780Our long-term customers know they can trust us to find them the best deals on foam products. We believe that savings should be passed on. We are not in business simply to make profits, but to benefit our customers with high quality products and services.
What is Flexible Foam?
Flexible polyurethane foam (FPF) is a polymer made from a chemical process that combines polyols and isocyanates. FPF is distinguished by a cellular structure that allows for some compression and resilience, resulting in a cushioning effect.
Foam is often made in huge slabstock buns that are allowed to cure into a solid substance before being sliced and molded into smaller pieces in various shapes and designs.
When liquid chemicals are placed onto a conveyor belt, they instantly foam up and rise into a huge bun (usually about four feet high) as they travel down the conveyor.
How Flexible Polyurethane Foam is Made
Foaming materials can be poured into aluminum molds, where the cured foam takes on the mold's size and shape. Molding enables the creation of foam goods in shapes that would be impossible to accomplish using slabstock buns.
Foam components can be molded along with other parts, such as a metal frame. A car seat's headrest is one example of this. Molding is often reserved for high production runs because of the significant upfront expenses of making molds.
Molded foam is commonly seen in automobile interiors, office furniture, and sporting goods. FPF's fundamental raw materials are frequently supplemented with additives to achieve the desired qualities. These include everything from the comfort and support required for upholstered chairs to the shock absorption required to safeguard packaged products to the long-term abrasion resistance required for carpet cushions.
Amine catalysts and surfactants can change the size of the cells formed during the reaction of polyols with isocyanates, resulting in different foam qualities. Flame retardants for aircraft and automobiles and antimicrobials for outdoor and marine uses are examples of additives.
Foam can be fabricated into intricate shapes once it has been created. Vertical bandsaws and horizontal slitters were adopted as fundamental foam fabrication tools.
Foam can be mounted to a vertical wheel with cutting blades because it is flexible, a procedure known as loop slitting. Lasers, hot wires, water jets, wave convolutes, and other technologies are also used by fabricators. Foam can be squeezed while being cut to create effects like "convoluted" foam, sometimes found in mattress toppers.
Properties of Flexible Foam
- The bulk density of polyurethane foam determines its density, not the exact polymer density. The density of a material made with flexible foam shows its cost and load-bearing capacity. The average densities of multiple layers from a sample block are used to calculate this. Perpendicular to the growing axis, the sample block is split into numerous layers.
- Load-bearing capacity measures how much compressive force the foam can withstand without deforming permanently. This determines the firmness or stiffness of the polyurethane foam. Indentation force deflection (IFD) and compression load deflection are two typical methods of load-bearing capability testing (CLD).
Applications of Flexible Polyurethane Foam
Polyurethane can be mixed with nonwoven substrates, netting, cloth, and fiber. Flame bonding, hot film bonding, hot melt adhesion, and powder lamination are bonding processes that use a powder adhesive to heat-attach foam to a substrate.
Other procedures alter foam's structure and performance properties. Reticulation is one of the most dramatic and beneficial changes. To increase porosity and airflow, reticulation involves breaking down many of the foam's cell walls. This can be performed by exposing foam to a caustic solution or a controlled explosion of a gas mixture in a closed reactor. Reticulated foam is frequently employed in air and fluid filtration systems and gasoline tanks as an anti-surge membrane.
The processing of foam scrap into bonded carpet cushions is one of the most commercially important foam reformulations. Various types of scrap foam are shredded and placed in a processing unit with a chemical adhesive.
The mixture is compressed and injected with steam to make a huge foam cylinder or block. This material is then "peeled" to the appropriate thicknesses for use as carpet cushions. With a market share of over 80%, bonded foam is the most common type of carpet cushion.
Foam qualities can be precisely measured and specified to match the right grade of foam to the particular application.
