- Author
- Lyon, R. E.
- Title
- Fire-Resistant Elastomers.
- Coporate
- Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ
- Sponsor
- Department of Transportation, Washington, DC
- Report
- DOT/FAA/AR-TN01/104, May 2002, 22 p.
- Distribution
- 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; Rush Service (Telephone Orders Only) 800-553-6847; Website: http://www.ntis.gov FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Website: http://actlibrary.tc.faa.gov/
- Keywords
- elastomers | fire resistance | fire resistant materials | heat release | rubber | seats | graphite | siloxane
- Abstract
- Molecular design of semi-inorganic rubbers has yielded flexible polysilphenylene-siloxane and polyphosphazene elastomers having the fire resistance of rigid, high-temperature engineering plastics (e.g., polyaramids, polyetherketones, and polyarylsulfones) based on the results of microscale combustibility data. In flaming combustion, a commercially viable polyphosphazene exhibited a 75% reduction in heat release rate compared to the polyurethane rubber currently used in fire-blocked foam aircraft seat cushions. A comparable reduction in heat release rate is obtained at lower cost by adding expandable graphite flakes to the polyurethane formulation. The graphite flakes exfoliate during heating to produce a 2000% volumetric expansion of the burned rubber which shields and insulates the underlying material from the heat source and lowers the heat release rate significantly. Future work will explore the use of relatively low-cost expandable graphite technology in semi-inorganic rubber to obtain a fireproof (zero heat release rate) seat cushion foam.