Acoustic foam plays diverse unique roles during insulation. D’Alessandro et al. (2018) illustrate that such versatility is attributed to the unique characteristics of the melamine foam, which include being light in weight, having a high light and infrared heat reflection capacity of 98%, and fewer chemical residues. Melamine foam is used in packaging considering its ability to withstand high temperature variations without melting, sudden cracking, or distorting. Thus, it is applied in the packaging of various products thereby facilitating the likelihood of the packaged products to be blast-frozen, baked, or gilled among other processing activities that require very low and those requiring extremely high temperatures
The aluminum foil foam is used in heat insulation. This is attributed to the open-cell, grid structure that limits heat transfer of air and convection thus making it suitable for use in melamine scum insulation products (Lobasov et al., 2019).Thus, the ability of the melamine foam to remain stable in temperatures of around 240 degrees Celsius makes the foam foil fit for scum insulation. Also, with the acoustic foam’s ability to reduce heat transfer through convention, the melamine foam is fit for use in boilers, heaters, and electrical appliances aiming to reduce the loss of heat that is required for the effective functioning of such appliances.
Thirdly, the aluminum foil is used for noise reduction. This is attributed to the open-cell surface structure of the melamine foam which guarantees the ability of the foam to reduce reflection of sound waves inform of echoes. In this case, its open structure allows sound waves to travel through the cell structure without recording hindrances that would create echoes. The acoustic foam can thus be used in mineral wool tube shells, alu-sheathed stone wool insulating sheets, and theater halls due to its ability to absorb vibrations. It is also commonly used in damping films whereby the sheet vibrations are reduced thereby making the acoustic foam fit for the ship building, aircraft manufacturing, vehicle manufacture, and other applications in construction machinery.
In addition, the acoustic foam is also used for sound insulation. This is attained by the melamine foam coating being added heavier materials that increase the time that sound waves would take to travel through these dense material. Thus, with the addition of heavier materials in the melamine foam coatings, sound waves are less pronounced considering that they have to be strong enough to pass through the dense material thereby increased absorption of these sound waves as they travel through the medium. Thus, further propagation of the sound waves is prevented with D’Alessandro et al. (2018) illustrating that the acoustic foam offers 85% effect when used in the noise insulation thereby only allowing 15% of the sounds to pass through.
The fire-retarded characteristics of the acoustic foam make it suitable for use in heat appliances that might be exposed to fire flames. The melamine foam coating offers a fire-retarded cushion attributed to the open structure of the foam foil that reduces the transfer of heat through convection. Also, upon the melamine foam coating being subjected to fire flames, the foam forms a coke coating, which emits carbon and nitrogen thus putting off the flames. Thus, the fire-retarded properties of the melamine foam ensure that it can effectively be used in surfaces that might directly come into contact with fire such as ovens and kilns.
Acoustic foam is used for hydrophobicity. After special treatment, melamine foam will exhibit hydrophobic properties, which makes it suitable for use in some places with heavy water vapor, such as pump rooms, bathrooms, etc.
