Effects of density and cell morphologies on the shape memory effect of a porous shape memory polymer

摘要

This paper investigates the effects of different densities and cellular morphologies on the shape memory effect (SME) of a porous shape memory polymer (SMP). The batch foaming processing technique was employed to obtain the desired foamed cellular structures. A study was conducted where the variable of saturation pressure was varied in order to obtain a reduction in relative density while the variables of saturation time, foaming temperature and foaming time were kept constant. The advantage of foaming the SMP is to reduce the weight of the material while still retaining its mechanical and thermomechanical characteristics. One particular point of interest is to understand how a change in density affects the SME. It is also of importance to determine how the SME is influenced by different amounts of strain and by the cellular morphology of the SMP. The objective is to modify the SMP to have the greatest SME while maintaining weight savings. Focusing on the SME, the area of greatest significance is the time response of the SMP. This approach is vital as it dictates the possibility of using a SMP as an effective actuator.