BAYER CORPORATION RESEARCHERS BENCHMARK POLYURETHANE TECHNOLOGIES FOR AUTOMOTIVE SEAT CUSHIONS

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BAYER CORPORATION RESEARCHERS BENCHMARK POLYURETHANE TECHNOLOGIES FOR AUTOMOTIVE SEAT CUSHIONS
01 October 2001 - Bayer MaterialScience AG

For more than 30 years, polyurethane foam has been the material of choice for automotive seat cushions, and determining which of the four main polyurethane foam technologies is best for seat comfort and durability has recently been a popular topic of discussion.

While these technologies - TDI-HR, TDI-MDI/HR, MDI-HR and TDI-Hot Cure foam - have been compared in the past, in most cases the comparisons were not made at the same hardness and density, resulting in misleading conclusions.

Mark A. Koshute, Senior Development Scientist in the Polyurethanes Division of Bayer Corporation, will present a paper at the Alliance for the Polyurethanes Industry's Polyurethanes Conference 2001 here, that compares the performance of the four main polyurethane foam technologies prepared at equivalent hardness/density grades.

Co-authors of the paper, 'Benchmarking of Polyurethane Technologies for Automotive Seat Cushions,' are: Michael Blaszkiewicz, Senior Associate Scientist in Materials Characterization; and Brian Neal, Ph.D., Principal Research Engineer at Bayer's South Charleston, W.Va., Technical Center.

'We wanted to systematically benchmark the different technologies at equivalent density and hardness to determine if one single technology is superior or more optimum than any of the others from a performance standpoint,' explained Koshute. 'In addition, we wanted to establish a baseline methodology for evaluating new polyurethane raw materials and technologies.'

Researchers, who utilized six test methods - Ball Rebound, Hysteresis Loss, Transmissivity, 50 Percent Humid Aged Compression Set, Wet Compression Set and Constant Force Pounding - gained some interesting insights from the study, according to Koshute. 'Among our findings, we determined that no one technology was superior, and that the choice of technology should be based on the type of seat parts being produced, the specifications that have to be met, and regional economics,' he said.

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About: Bayer MaterialScience AG
Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is part of the worldwide Bayer Group, an international health care, nutrition and innovative materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. Bayer employs 23,300 in North America with net North American sales of 8.8 billion euros in 2003. Bayer’s three operating business areas – HealthCare, CropScience and MaterialScience, improve people’s lives through a broad range of essential products that help diagnose and treat diseases, protect crops and advance automobile safety and durability.

Bayer MaterialScience AG is one of the world's largest producers of polymers and high-performance plastics. The main customers for Its innovative developments in coatings, adhesives, insulating materials and sealants, polycarbonates and polyurethanes are the automotive and construction industries, the electrical/electronics segment and manufacturers of sports and leisure goods, packaging, and medical devices.

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