Cushioning properties of convoluted foam

✍ Scribed by Gary Burgess

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 115 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-3214
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1522(199905/06)12:3<101::aid-pts457>3.0.co;2-l

✦ Synopsis

Convoluted polyurethane foam was tested for its cushioning ability in controlled drop tests using a cushion tester. The purpose of the tests was to relate the peak acceleration transmitted to the falling weight to key geometric features of the cushion, such as base thickness and area, along with ®nger height and spacing. It was found that the ®ngers had the effect of reducing the impact velocity in a predictable manner, allowing the convoluted cushion to be treated as a block design so that published cushion curves for the same material could be used to obtain the peak acceleration. In effect, convoluted foam behaves like a block cushion of the size of its own base in a drop from a reduced height, the reduction being several times the ®nger height.