Abstract
Foam-in-fabric technology offers the automotive industry cost reductions, design flexibility and quality consistency for seating and head restraints. Use of all-MDI-based flexible polyurethane foam systems which have a proven record of minimal defects and very low reject rates, together with the development of appropriate machinery and moulding equipment, has led to the establishment of foam-in-fabric (FIF) barrier and non-barrier technologies for volume car manufacture in both the USA and Europe.
In barrier technology, standard reactivity all-MDI-based foams are used extensively owing to their fast cure and excellent dimensional stability. This is especially important with complex shapes incorporating negative contours. In non-barrier technology, all-MDI-based foam's fast viscosity build-up and greater potential for rapid cream have made it the system of choice.
Barrier technology is being used by several companies on both sides of the Atlantic for seat production. Non-barrier technology is now firmly established for head restraint production in North America and Europe. As in the past, head restraint manufacture is being used as a learning process for the potential use of non-barrier processes in the manufacture of automotive seating.
ICI has now developed CFC-free, all-MDI-based foams which have proved successful in both barrier and non-barrier technologies. Fast cure potential and short demould times make them particularly appropriate for just-in-time manufacture. Their wide index latitudes allow dual-hardness pouring and their durability in terms of humid ageing and dynamic fatigue is particularly good.
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