Industrial assessment of polyurethane foams and influence processing parameters of raw materials on mechanical properties

The ergonomic performance of furniture used in office environments plays a critical role in employee productivity. Although polyurethane foams (PUFs) are widely used in office chairs, the effects of industrial production conditions on their performance have not been sufficiently addressed in the literature. This study focuses on the systematic investigation of PUF production parameters under real production line conditions to fill this gap. In this context, key production parameters such as the I:P ratio, total I-P amount, flow rate during molding, and mold temperature were gradually varied. According to the obtained results, the samples produced at a 60:100 I:P ratio, 700 g total I-P amount, 350 g/s flow rate, and 45 °C mold temperature simultaneously satisfied the mechanical performance criteria. Under these conditions, values of 52.1% ball rebound, 4.04% compression set, 170.63 N hardness, 0.871 N/cm tear strength, and 113.9 kPa tensile strength were achieved. SEM analyses revealed that increasing temperature and flow rate enlarged the pore size, whereas increasing the I:P ratio and total I-P amount reduced porosity. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that PUF performance should be evaluated not only based on formulation but also together with industrial production parameters. The findings provide an important reference for developing production processes that meet the comfort, durability, and quality requirements of office furniture foams and support performance-oriented strategies in mass production.