- Author
-
Ohlemiller, T. J.
|
Dolan, S.
- Title
- Ignition and Lateral Flame Spread Characteristics of Composite Materials.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- David Taylor Research Center, Annapolis, MD
- Report
-
NISTIR 89-4030
January 1989
29 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
composite materials
|
flame spread
|
flammability
|
ignition
|
lateral ignition
- Identifiers
- LIFT (Lateral Ignition and Flame Spread Test)
- Abstract
- The Lateral Ignition and Flame Spread (LIFT) apparatus was used to obtain information on the ignition and lateral flame spread characteristics of two types of composite materials. The first type was a honeycomb sandwich panel; three different facings were tested with this material. The second type of material was a composite armor. There was a substantial variation in the ignitability of the various material combinations with a vinyl-faced honeycomb panel being the most ignitable and the composite armor being the least ignitable. The ignition behavior of the facings of all materials was correlated by a simple predictive model. Only the vinyl-faced honeycomb panel showed significant normal flame spread under the conditions examined through some flame "advancement" was seen with the others. All of the materials exhibited worse flammability properties at their edges as compared to their facings.