What is Reticulated Foam?
Reticulated foam is used in a variety of applications and most people have seen it in one form or another. It is light foam with open cells, and each cell has a dodecahedron (12-sided) shape. Uses of it are plentiful. It might cover the grills of speakers, be used as filters in air conditioners, air cleaners, or vacuum cleaners, or make up vital parts of medical or military equipment, just to name a few of the ways it can be employed. Perhaps the most exciting part about reticulated foam is the way in which it is produced. This is an extremely structured and controlled process. Companies that create reticulated foam begin by selecting foam with pores (openings) that are all nearly identical in size. These pieces are placed in a pressured container, into which gases are introduced to create an explosion. When the explosion is in process, it creates an environment where the majority of the material in each pore or cell has been “blown out.” Very nearly 100% of the foam in each “pore” has
Reticulated polyurethane foams feature a pentagonal dodecahdron geometric shape with 12 plane faces do’ dec a he’dron from the Greek (dyo) two, deka (10), and hedra (base). A thermal reticulation process creates this unique cell-shape structure. A variety of polyester and polyether polyurethanes get modified under pressure to create a flexible network of open cells. Thermal reticulation produces foams that look smooth, have high tear and tensile strength, and repeatable pore structure from batch to batch. The process parameters control cell size for specific applications. Foams are classified as having discrete pore sizes measured as pores per inch (ppi) or as a ratio of the number of voids per solid material per linear inch. Materials with a higher ppi value contain less solid material and weigh less. Yet, they maintain a high percentage of the strength and chemical resistance present in the original material. Foam under compression, as in gasketing applications, can be made with a vo
