Modeling of fiber-reinforced phenolic foam

A statistical predictive model is developed that describes the compression properties of phenolic foam reinforced with glass fibers. An analysis of variance is applied to determine the behavior of composite phenolic foam. The material variables used in the study are fiber length, fiber weight fraction and weight percentage of blowing agent. The responses analyzed are density, compressive modulus, and strength. The foam cell size distribution as a function of density is also studied. Comparison of the experimental results with statistical data indicates that the elastic properties of glass-fiber-reinforced phenolic foam do not depend on the fiber lengths used. Also, the results showed that the density and morphology of composite foam exhibit a strong influence on the responses of the model. The statistical approach has utility for predicting the effects of material variables on elastic properties of foams.