- Author
- Brown, J. E.
- Title
- Heat Release and Flammability of Composite Materials.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Interscience Communications Limited. Heat Release and Fire Hazard. 1st U. S. Symposium. Abstracts. December 1991, San Diego, CA, 10 p., 1991
- Keywords
- heat release | fire hazard | composite materials | flammability | thermal radiation | cone calorimeters | irradiance | parameters | pilot ignition | heat flux | exposure time | thermal sensitivity
- Identifiers
- Minimum External Radiant Flux (MERF); Thermal Sensitivity Index (TSI); Extinction Sensitivity Index (ESI)
- Abstract
- A study was performed to evaluate the performance of composite materials under external thermal radiation of fire environments. The Cone Calorimeter was used as the bench-scale method of test to simulate the thermal irradiance from fires of various magnitudes. Parameters were derived from the calorimetry measurements to characterize the pilot ignitability and flammability of the composite materials. The parameters are, to some extent, empirical since radiative heat losses from the samples were not determined and are unknown. These parameters are: 1) minimum external radiant flux (MERF) required to produce pilot ignition in a predetermined exposure time; 2) thermal sensitivity index (TSI) which indicates the burning intensity dependence on external heat flux; and 3) extinction sensitivity index (ESI) which indicates the propensity for continued flaming combustion without an external heat flux. MERF values at 300 s for 3mm thick composite panels of a FR epoxy resin and of a poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) resin were about 19 and 28 kW/m2, respectively. The TSI of the PPS resin composite revealed that it had the greatest dependency on external flux. Additionally, the ESI of the PPS composites was the only one to indicate an external flux requirement to sustain combustion during the first 60 s after ignition.