- Author
- Rollhauser, C. M. | Beck, C. P.
- Title
- Evaluation of Results for Large Scale Composite Module Fire Tests, July 1989.
- Coporate
- Naval Surface Warfare Center, Bethesda, MD
- Sponsor
- Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC
- Report
- CARDEROCKDIV SSM-64-92/55, February 1993, 53 p.
- Distribution
- Distribution authorized to U.S. Government agencies Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- composite materials | fire protection | fire retardant materials | fire tests | fire models | reinforced plastics
- Identifiers
- glass-reinforced plastics
- Abstract
- A cooperative effort between the United Kingdom, Canada, and the U.S.A. led to a series of fire tests and a better understanding of how composite materials perform in fire. The Royal Navy provided two composite modules and the Canadian Navy provided a large amount of funding for large scale fire testing by two U.S.N. laboratories as a part of an Information Exchange Program (IEP ABC-36) on ship structures. The Carderock Division of Naval Warfare Surface Center (CARDEROCKDIV, NSWC) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) performed a series of full scale shipboard fire tests ranging in size from waste baskets to helicopter crashes to determine the flammability characteristics and structural responses of two composite deckhouse material systems. The objectives of this testing were to determine the response of the composite modules to fires of varying sizes, the effects of fire on structural strength, comparison of the module's heat transfer characteristics with all steel modules, correlation of large scale tests with small scale tests, and extinguishability of large surface areas of flammable materials using shipboard fire fighting equipment and tactics. This report discusses data taken during the fire tests and presents this data in light of the small scale testing done on the composites used.