- Author
- Stoliarov, S. I. | Crowley, S. | Lyon, R. E. | Linteris, G. T.
- Title
- Prediction of the Burning Rates of Non-Charring Polymers.
- Coporate
- SRA International, Inc., Egg Harbor Township, NJ Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Combustion and Flame, Vol. 156, No. 5, 1068-1083, May 2009
- Keywords
- polymers | burning rates | charring | flammability | gasification | calorimetry | cone calorimeters | pyrolysis | chemical reactions | fire tests | polymethyl methacrylate | polystyrene | polyethylenes | material properties | heat capacity | equations | temperature | decomposition | kinetics | calorimetry | thermodynamics | cone calorimeters | gasification | experiments | heat release rate | uncertainty | insulating materials | thermal conductivity
- Identifiers
- High-Impact Polystyrene (HIPS); Thermakin; parameters describing temperature dependence of density; parameters describing temperature dependence of thermal conductivity; absorption of radiative heat; parameters describing decomposition reactions; summary of the results of experimental/simulated cone calorimetry tests; uncertainties (%) in the parameters characterizing experimental HRR histories
- Abstract
- This study provides a thorough examination of whether a numerical pyrolysis model, which describes transient energy transport and chemical reactions taking place in a one-dimensional object, can be used as a practical tool for prediction and/or extrapolation of the results of fire calorimetry tests. The focus is on non-charring polymers, in particular - poly(methylmethacrylate), high-impact polystyrene, and high-density polyethylene. First, relevant properties of these materials were measured and/or obtained from the literature. Subsequently, the values of these properties were used to simulate gasification and cone calorimetry experiments, which were performed under a broad range of conditions. A comparison with the experimental results indicates that the model gives reasonably good predictions of the mass loss and heat release histories. It also predicts the evolution of temperature inside the material samples.