Shape Memory Behavior of PET Foams
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
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Polymers 2018, 10(2), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10020115
Received: 14 December 2017
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Revised: 12 January 2018
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Accepted: 23 January 2018
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Published: 25 January 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shape Memory Polymers)
Shape memory properties of PET (polyethylene-terephthalate) foams have been evaluated for two different foam densities. Samples were subjected to multiple memory-recovery cycles along three different directions to measure the effect of foam anisotropy on static mechanical and shape memory properties. The memory cycle was performed by uniaxial compression tests at room temperature. Despite these severe conditions, PET foams demonstrated very good shape memory behavior with shape recovery always higher than 90%. Due to cycling, the mechanical performance of foam samples is partially reduced, mainly along the extrusion direction of the foam panels. Despite this loss of static performance, shape memory properties are only partially affected by thermo-mechanical cycles. The maximum reduction is 10% for shape fixity and 3% for shape recovery. The experimental results are particularly interesting considering that compression tests were undertaken at room temperature. Indeed, PET foams seem to be optimal candidates for self-repairing structures.
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Keywords:
shape memory behavior; PET foam; compression mode; shape recovery
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Santo, L.; Bellisario, D.; Quadrini, F. Shape Memory Behavior of PET Foams. Polymers 2018, 10, 115. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10020115
AMA Style
Santo L, Bellisario D, Quadrini F. Shape Memory Behavior of PET Foams. Polymers. 2018; 10(2):115. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10020115
Chicago/Turabian StyleSanto, Loredana, Denise Bellisario, and Fabrizio Quadrini. 2018. "Shape Memory Behavior of PET Foams" Polymers 10, no. 2: 115. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10020115
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