METHOD FOR FORMING EXPANDED MOLDINGS, EXPANDED MOLDINGS FORMED BY THE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRACTICING THE METHOD

摘要

A method for forming expanded moldings wherein a material containing fine bubbles incorporated therein is supplied into a mold to thereby form expanded moldings having a prescribed shape, which comprises making the flow of the material in the mold to be turbulent. The material preferably has a Reynolds number within the range of 1000 <= Re <= 20000, more preferably within the range of 2000 <= Re <= 10000. The method allows the suppression of the growth of expanded or foamed cells during molding, which leads to the formation of expanded moldings containing fine expanded cells having a uniform size dispersed uniformly therein.