Predicting Mechanical Properties of Lignin-Containing Polyurethane Rigid Foams from Microstructure Using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Bio-based alternatives to conventional rigid foams have proven to be good substitutes owing to their enhanced sustainability and competitive performance. However, because their manufacturing processes are complex and destructive testing is often impractical, this study investigates whether microstructural features can be correlated with mechanical properties in lignin-containing rigid polyurethane (PU) foams using machine learning approaches. Various types and percentages of lignin-based polyols were investigated as partial replacements for polyol, including LHO, DCA, DCA-D, LHO-O, Kraft lignin (KL), and LHO-MD, at polyol replacement levels ranging from 12.5% to 50%, together with a control formulation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and corresponding mechanical compression data were used to train a custom state-of-the-art dual-head convolutional neural network (CNN) targeting the specific prediction of density, specific compression modulus, specific yield stress, and specific compression strength. The CNN was optimized with a weighted multi-output loss function, achieving strong predictive performance with R