New Material for Supplemental Inflatable Restraint Doors

New specialty urethane foams have been developed for use in composite type air bag doors (doors which consist of a vinyl skin, a foamed urethane core, and a supporting substrate). These air bag door foams are characterized by:

• high strength and tear resistance (much greater than typical instrument panel (IP) foam),
• good low and high temperature physical properties (required for varied deployment conditions)
• excellent heat aged physical properties (required for long life in vehicle service), and
• low vinyl staining rivaling good IP foam.

Detailed descriptions of the air bag door foam physical properties are presented along with recent developments.