- Author
- Miller, B. | Goswami, B. C. | Meiser, C. H., Jr. | Turner, R.
- Title
- Burning Rates of GIRCFF Fabrics Using the TRI Flammability Analyzer. Progress Report No. 3. December 16, 1971-March 15, 1972.
- Coporate
- Textile Research Institute, Princeton, NJ
- Report
- Progress Report No. 3, March 23, 1972, 31 p.
- Contract
- 1-35964
- Keywords
- fabrics | burning rate | flammability | autoignition | textiles | flame retardants | moisture content | kinetics | heat sinks | oxygen concentration | polyesters | weight loss | wool fabrics | humidity | cotton fabrics
- Identifiers
- autoignition of fabrics; influence of constructional factors on the burning rates of textile structures; transfer of flame retardant effects
- Abstract
- Considerable progress has been made in an experimental study of the autoignition of textile materials (ignition caused by heated air alone). Following up earlier work on cellulosics, data has been collected for synthetic fibers, with particular attention paid to the effects of sample mass, total surface area and the presence of flame retardant additives. A systematic linear relationship of mass to ignition time, found for all fibers tested, has been used to obtain an intrinsic ignition time independent of bulk factors. For each case, kinetic analysis showed an activation energy of about 8 Kcal/mole, suggesting that the rate controlling process in this kind of ignition was physical rather than chemical. Fabrics and filmsmade up from the same polymer appear to have the same autoignition behavior, indicating that total surface area is not a critical factor.