Flammability Testing State-Of-The-Art

Item

Title
Flammability Testing State-Of-The-Art
Report Number
CONF-8305107, p. 99-111
Creator
de Ris, John
Corporate Author
Factory Mutual Research Corporation
Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Date
1983
Date Issued
1983-07
Extent
13
Identifier
ADA132780
Format
1 online resource (13 pages : ill.)
Abstract
Traditional material flammability tests are discussed in terms of their empirical foundation and oversimplified interpretation of fire phenomena. More recent rate-of-heat-release tests overcome some of these problems by measuring a material's response to different levels of fire exposure. However, no existing small-scale tests are sensitive to the radiant emission from the material's own flames. This radiant emission controls large-scale fire hazards. As a result, existing flammability tests cannot be expected to adequately characterize large-scale hazards. Some new approaches to this problem are discussed and a specific bench-scale test method is suggested which may overcome the identified problems of existing test methods.
Description
Traditional material flammability tests are discussed in terms of their empirical foundation and oversimplified interpretation of fire phenomena. More recent rate-of-heat-release tests overcome some of these problems by measuring a material's response to different levels of fire exposure. However, no existing small-scale tests are sensitive to the radiant emission from the material's own flames. This radiant emission controls large-scale fire hazards. As a result, existing flammability tests cannot be expected to adequately characterize large-scale hazards. Some new approaches to this problem are discussed and a specific bench-scale test method is suggested which may overcome the identified problems of existing test methods.
Distribution Classification
1
Distribution Conflict
No
DTIC Record Exists
No
Illinois Tech Related
No
Photo Quality
Not Needed
Report Availability
Full text available
Type
article
Is Part Of
Proceedings: 17th Asilomar Conference on Fire and Blast Effects of Nuclear Weapons
Media
Article17