More about Foam Fabricating

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Foam fabricators work with a range of synthetic materials, although the most common material used in foam fabrication is flexible polyurethane. Egg crate shapes, foam packing shapes and foam furniture cushions are all made from flexible polyurethane. However, there are a wide variety of materials that fall under the term polyurethane, which is used merely to describe a certain type of molecule (a polymer) linked by urethane units. Numerous chemicals can be used as the monomer linked by the urethanes, and other substances can be added to polyurethane molecules to change its properties. This, in large part, accounts for the many types of foam available to consumers.

After the manufacture of the foam material, the foam fabrication process still involves numerous steps. Perhaps the most important of these is cutting, which is one of the main areas of competition between foam fabricators. Fabricators aim to economize cutting time and cost while providing a complete range of custom and standard shapes. The cutting processes used include drilling, slitting, grinding and buffing, as well as laser and water jet cutting. In certain processes, the foam is compressed prior to cutting in order to achieve special shapes. One cutting can produce two useful pieces (top and bottom), and many contoured foams are created in this fashion.

For high precision applications, such as the manufacture of part-specific packaging material or insulating foam, cutting paths can be determined by uploading CAD drawings into computer controlled cutting machines. Laser and water jet cutting services typically utilize these controllers to make complex and detailed foam shapes. These processes are not suited to extremely deep shapes, however, and other cutting equipment, such as the abrasive-wire-contour cutter, is used cut thicker materials.

Post treatment technologies are also important services offered by foam fabricators. These processes concern joining and combining foam and foam shapes with a different material. Processes like heated bonding, adhesion and powder laminating are used to join fiber and foam into layered composites. These complex shapes can consist of various types of foam and fabrics, all bonded together. Post treatment technologies are responsible for the functionality of foam in many modern applications.