Citation

Kandola BK, Horrocks AR, Padmore K, Dalton J, Owen T. Fire Mater. 2006; 30(4): 241-255.

Affiliation

Centre for Materials Research and Innovation, University of Bolton, Deane Road, Bolton BL3 5AB, U.K.; Dalton Lucerne Rare Fibres, Macclesfield SK10 5RU, U.K

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/fam.903

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Two test methods for measuring the heat release rate, HRR have been compared on fabric composites used for aircraft interior materials as side-wall panels. These methods are based on the principles of direct measurement of the convective and radiant heat by thermopiles using an Ohio State University (OSU) calorimeter, and oxygen consumption using a cone calorimeter. It has been observed when tested by standard procedures, cone results at 35 kW/m2 incident heat flux do not correlate with OSU results at the same heat flux. This is because in the cone calorimeter, the sample is mounted horizontally whereas the OSU calorimetric method requires vertical sampling with exposure to a vertical radiant panel. A further difference between the two techniques is the ignition source - in the cone it is spark ignition, whereas in the OSU it is flame ignition; hence, samples in the OSU calorimeter ignite more easily compared to those in the cone under the same incident heat fluxes. However, in this paper we demonstrate that cone calorimetric exposure at 50 kW/m2 heat flux gives similar peak heat release results as the 35 kW/m2 heat flux of OSU calorimeter, but significantly different average and total heat release values over a 2 min period. The performance differences associated with these two techniques are also discussed. Moreover, the effects of structure, i.e. type of fibres used in warp/weft direction and design of fabric are also analysed with respect to heat release behaviour and their correlation discussed.