Rubber Foam Key Terms

Get acquainted with rubber foam key terms to make smarter business choices

By Howard Robertson

Rubber foam refers to the rubber material that has been manufactured with a foaming agent to create an air-filled matrix structure. Rubber foam is useful in a wide range of applications, such as cushioning in automotive seats and furniture to insulation in various appliances.

While interacting with experts from the rubber foam industry, you will come across various key terms related to rubber foam processing methods. This guide intends to familiarize you with some of the technical terms from the rubber foam industry.

ABA (Auxiliary Blowing Agent)

ABA is an additive that is used in the production of foam. ABA supplements the primary blowing agent (water) and is mainly used to make the foam softer or lighter.
Try: For the definition of this key term, read through the flexible polyurethane foam glossary at Springfeel, a manufacturer of flexible polyether polyurethane foam products.

Cold molding

Cold molding is a process for the production of high-resiliency foam. In this process, the foam is cured at or near room temperature.
Try: For the definition of the term cold molding, read through the polyurethane glossary at Renosol Corporation.

Hot molding

Hot molding is another production process for molded foam components. Unlike the cold molding process, high oven temperatures are used in the hot molding process to drive the curing reaction in foams.
Try: Polyurethane Foam Association, Inc. offers a glossary of terms related to the foam industry.

Resilience

Resilience is an indicator of the surface elasticity of foam; it can be measured by dropping a steel ball onto the foam and measuring the height up to which the ball springs back.
Try: To learn more about resilience, read through the mattress glossary at Go Mattress, a manufacturer of traditional spring and foam mattresses.

Tensile strength

Tensile strength of a material is the measure of the force per unit area required to stretch a material to its breaking point.
Try: For the definition of this key term, read through the polyurethane glossary at Quality Foam, a division of quality foam packaging.

Board foot

A board foot is the most common unit of measure for foam used by the foam industry. A board foot of foam is equal to a 12"x12"x1" piece of foam.
Try: For more information about board feet, browse through JW Upholstery’s Web site. Additionally, you can read through an informative article on foam at Upholstery-Supplies-Guide.com.

ASTM D3574 - 08

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) provides the standard D3574 - 08. This standard outlines the standard test methods for molded foam.
Try: You can learn more about the ASTM D3574 – 08 standards at the ASTM International Web site.