Abstract
Polyurethane foam has excellent mechanical strength and insulation performance, and has been adopted as an insulation material for $-163^{\circ}C$ liquefied natural gas carrier. In this study, Kevlar Polyurethane Foams(K-PUF) were synthesized by adding Kevlar pulp with excellent mechanical strength for the purpose of improving the performance of existing polyurethane foam. Since polyurethane foam has mechanical performance depending on the proportions of Kevlar pulp added, the mechanical strength of the K-PUF with ratios of fiber0.2wt.%, 0.4wt.%, 0.6wt.%, 0.8wt.% and 1.0wt.%) was evaluated. The compression tests were performed on the 4 different temperatures($20^{\circ}C$, $-50^{\circ}C$, $-110^{\circ}C$ and $-163^{\circ}C$) in consideration of the environmental characteristics as a cryogenic insulation used in LNG carrier. Besides, the effects of the fiber addition on polyurethane foam with closed cell structure were evaluated in a phenomenological approach through SEM analysis. All the results were compared to Neat-polyurethane foam. As a results, 0.8wt.% K-PUF showed the improved mechanical strength, and the addition of Kevlar pulp in a certain ratio improves the mechanical performance by enhancing the compression resistance.
