Ignition Properties of Fabrics

Abstract

ASTM E2058 (NFPA 287) Fire Propagation apparatus was used to determine the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) and Thermal Response Parameter (TRP_thin) of 10 fabrics by measuring time to ignition at different heat flux values. CHF values were in the range 15–25 kW/m² and decreased with fabric areal density and cation content. TRP_thin values expressed as areal density heat capacity ignition temperature above ambient were in the range 500–2439kW-s/m². There was a reasonable correlation between the measured TRP_thin values and the areal density of the fabrics examined in this study. Light areal density fabrics with low TRP_thin values (≤ 1000 kW-s/m²) had high ignitions with the fast smoldering cigarette, while heavy areal density fabrics (≥ 1200 kW-s/m²) had high ignitions with the slow smoldering cigarette.

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