Rigid Polyurethane Foam for Impact and Thermal Protection

Polyurethane foam has been used as a protective medium in nuclear material transportation containers for over 30 years. Other materials used in containers are woods, cork, cellulose fiber, honeycomb, metal fabrications, and other foam types. These other materials have one or more inherent drawbacks including: cost, availability, difficulty of fabrication, uniaxial protection, and poor thermal resistance. The use of polyurethane foams can free the container designer from many of these constraints since the polyurethane foam can be engineered to meet a wide range of impact situations and to provide significant thermal protection. System costs of polyurethane foam are very competitive, especially with in situ (pour-in-place) foam application. The particular foam we will refer to is LAST-A-FOAM FR-3700/FR-6700 rigid polyurethane foam.