- Author
- Sandholzer, M. W.
- Title
- Effect of Fiber Composition on Textile Flammability Report of Preliminary Work.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NBS 7339, September 8, 1961, 11 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: National Archives, Civilian Records, Room 2800, 8601 Adelphia Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, Telephone: 301-713-7230
- Contract
- NBS-PROJECT-1002-12-10120
- Keywords
- fabric flammability testing
- Abstract
- A group of ten fabrics, similar in construction and weight but each knit from a different textile fiber, were subjected to three established textile flame tests and to a test designed to measure the heat transfered from a burning fabric to an adjacent surface. Because of the pronounced difference in response to heat and in burning behavior between the fabrics of natural fibers and those of synthetic fibers, valid comparisons between fabrics of the two types were difficult. The fabrics of natural fibers in the group were placed in the order of wool, cotton, and viscose rayon on the basis of increasing burning rate, as indicated by the three methods used. Two synthetic fabrics, Dynel and Dacron, did not support combustion in any of the tests; the others showed burning rates in a range comparable to that for the fabrics of natural fibers. The heat transfered to an adjacent surface varied with the fiber and construction of the material and, as registered by the method employed, appeared to range from approximately 20-50 perent of the heat produced by the burning fabric.