With greater emphasis on weight reduction throughout the transportation industry, there is a renewed effort to remove as much mass as possible to improve vehicle performance. The current seating and load floor components found in ground vehicle, rail and aviation platforms account for a significant amount of both weight and space within these platforms. JSP has developed and optimized a blow molding process that combines traditional blow molding with an injection molded particle foam core. This process; called Foamcore, utilizes traditional blow molding equipment combined with a particle foam injection unit to produce a composite blow molded part with a solid foam core. JSP's Foamcore technology allows for simpler designs, higher strength to weight ratios, lower part weight, all while using exiting tooling (with minor modifications). Multiple polymers can also be used including Polypropylene, Polyethylene, Polystyrene, etc. for both skin and core materials. This paper will describe recent advancements of this technology, and how they allow for improved properties to be realized in the area of seat backs, load floors and other structural components. Other features discussed include improvements in thermal insulation, sound abatement, as well as recyclability and End-Of-Life requirements.
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