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Author
Quintiere, J. G.
Title
Effects of Angular Orientation on Flame Spread Over Thin Materials. Final Report.
Coporate
Maryland Univ., College Park
Sponsor
Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC
Report
DOT/FAA/AR-99/86, December 1999, 32 p.
Distribution
AVAILABLE FROM: Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center's Fire Safety Section's Full-Text technical reports page (in Adobe Acrobat portable document format [PDF]): http//www.fire.tc.faa.gov/reports/report.stm AVAILABLE FROM National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900. Website: http://www.ntis.gov AVAILABLE FROM: Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center's Fire Safety Section's Full-Text technical reports page: http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/reports/report.stm
Keywords
flame spread | flammability | fire hazards | substrates | paper | insulation | glass fibers | material properties | gravity
Identifiers
thin films; gravity assisted flame spread; gravity opposed flame spread
Abstract
Data were taken to show the flame spread characteristics of thin materials burning on an insulating substrate. Metalized polyethylene terephthalate (0.20 mm) and paper (0.17 mm) were burned on the surface of glass fiber insulation. Flame spread was measured in the upward or downward facing orientation for the material and in the directions of gravity assistance (up) or gravity opposition (down). Measurements were taken at various angles ranging from a vertical to a horizontal orientation. A theoretical analysis was developed to predict the flame spread as a function of material properties, sample orientation, and flame spread direction. The one-dimensional theory was in reasonable agreement with the paper data. Vertical upward spread was found to yield the highest velocity.