Effects of variations in incident heat flux when using cone calorimeter test data for prediction of full‐scale heat release rates of polyurethane foam

Robson, Luke D.; Torvi, David A.; Obach, Matthew R.; Weckman, Elizabeth J.

doi:10.1002/fam.2271

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Similar two-stage burning of FPUF samples in cone calorimetry experiments has been noted by numerous researchers and attributed to a two-stage pyrolysis of the foam [52,[56][57][58][59][60]. Ravey and Pearce [57] provided a detailed discussion of the two-stage pyrolysis.…”

Section: Burning Behavior Of Flexible Polyurethane Foamsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Although it is well established that the rate of pyrolysis is an important feature resulting from the thermal behavior of a specimen [60], one of the objectives of this work was to select a sample configuration for quantitative comparison of composites with different BFs subject to intense fire conditions. A ceramic wool substrate was chosen for the composite experiments because it was expected to result in more intense burning of the polyol-derived liquid.…”

Section: Burning Behavior Of Flexible Polyurethane Foammentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing fire-blocking effectiveness of barrier fabrics in the cone calorimeter

Nazaré¹,

Pitts²,

Shields³

et al. 2019

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Cone calorimetric experiments of flexible polyurethane foam (FPUF) and FPUF covered with a variety of fire-blocking barrier fabrics (BFs) were used to characterize and rank the effectiveness of BFs for reducing the flammability of residential upholstered furniture (RUF). In addition to BF properties, it was demonstrated that the burning behaviors of the FPUF/BF composites were sensitive to a wide range of experimental parameters including the sample configuration, heat losses to the underlying support base, and the two-stage pyrolysis behavior of the FPUF. Measurements using thermocouples (TCs) placed within the FPUF provided insights on FPUF pyrolysis behavior, the collapse rate of FPUF, and the thermal protective properties of barrier materials.

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Section: Burning Behavior Of Flexible Polyurethane Foamsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Burning Behavior Of Flexible Polyurethane Foammentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing fire-blocking effectiveness of barrier fabrics in the cone calorimeter

Nazaré¹,

Pitts²,

Shields³

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Similar two-stage burning of FPUF samples in cone calorimetry experiments has been noted by numerous researchers and attributed to two-stage pyrolysis of the foam. 52,56–60 Ravey and Pearce 57 provide a detailed discussion of the behavior. The origin lies in the use of toluene diisocyante (TDI) and polyether-based polyols as the primary ingredients in FPUF typically used in American RUF.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although it is well established that the rate of pyrolysis is an important feature resulting from the thermal behavior of a specimen, 60 one of the objectives of this work was to select a sample configuration for quantitative comparison of composites with different BFs subject to intense fire conditions. A ceramic wool substrate was chosen for the composite experiments because it was expected to result in more intense burning of the polyol-derived liquid and be more similar to burning in actual RUF.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing fire-blocking effectiveness of barrier fabrics in the cone calorimeter

Nazaré

Pitts

Shields

et al. 2019

Journal of Fire Sciences

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Cone calorimetry experiments of on flexible polyurethane foam and flexible polyurethane foam covered with a variety of fire-blocking barrier fabrics were used to characterize and rank the effectiveness of barrier fabrics with the ultimate goal being an ability to predict the effectiveness of barrier fabrics for reducing the flammability of residential upholstered furniture. The primary measure used to characterize the burning behavior was heat release rate. The effect of the underlying sample substrate was shown to have a large effect on the burning behavior of flexible polyurethane foam samples, and a thermally insulating substrate was used during composite experiments. At times, rapid heat release rate fluctuations were observed, and in such cases approximate corrections were applied to correct for finite cone calorimeter time response. Measurements using thermocouples placed within the flexible polyurethane foam provided insights on flexible polyurethane foam pyrolysis behavior, the collapse rate of flexible polyurethane foam, and the thermal protective properties of barrier materials. Heat release rate temporal profiles for flexible polyurethane foam showed two distinct burning stages with peak values which have been attributed to sequential burning of species (primarily) derived from the diamine ( PHRR1) and polyol components ( PHRR2) used to manufacture the flexible polyurethane foam. When a barrier fabric was added, many of the composites displayed a three-stage burning behavior which was attributed to an initial short, intense burning (termed flash burning) stage associated with the barrier fabric covering followed by the two flexible polyurethane foam stages. Seven out of 16 flexible polyurethane foam/barrier fabric composites exhibited flame extinction prior to fuel burn out. Five out of the seven composites reignited when the spark ignition source was reapplied. Reignition allowed barrier fabric effectiveness to be assessed even for cases with flame extinction. Barrier fabric performance was shown to be consistent with four properties that were previously identified as important barrier fabric properties: barrier fabric flammability, gas permeability, thermal protection, and physical integrity. In addition, the current experiments indicate the presence and effectiveness of gas-phase active flame retardants in the barrier fabric can also play an important role. A limited number of tests were conducted to de-couple the effects of flame-retardant chemicals and physical effects of barrier fabrics on flexible polyurethane foam burning behavior. These tests showed that while flame-retardant chemicals can be effective in quenching and extinguishing the flames, the presence of effective barrier fabric shells is also very important in lowering the heat release rate of burning flexible polyurethane foam. In general, the presence of a barrier fabric was shown to reduce the heat release rate peak values during both flexible polyurethane foam burning stages. The magnitude of the peak associated with second-stage flexible polyurethane foam burning was deemed the most appropriate for characterizing the thermal protection provided by a barrier fabric. Since the times for PHRR2 also varied between composites, a measurement referred to as the peak fire growth rate (PFIGRA) parameter was calculated by dividing the heat release rate by time since time to ignition and PFIGRA2 was also considered for characterizing the barrier fabrics. Three possible classification schemes, each consisting of three classes, were introduced based on composite flame extinction and reignition behavior, PHRR2 values, and PFIGRA2 values. Each scheme provided differentiation between barrier fabric effectiveness. While the schemes were able to assess whether the barrier fabrics were particularly effective or ineffective, there were variations among classes of barrier fabrics having intermediate levels of effectiveness. Further work will be required to assess which, if any, of the classification schemes are most appropriate for predicting barrier fabric performance in residential upholstered furniture.

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“…This is capital intensive and has been discouraged for purposes of academic research hence the prediction of HRR in real scale becomes a significant tool using various prediction models. Robson et al [9] predicted different polyurethane foam thickness using a modelling tool. The results obtained showed good agreement with experimental results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and prediction of flame retarded particleboard fire behaviour in real scale

Suoware¹,

Umeh²,

Edelugo³

2021

Nig. J. Tech.

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Particleboard composites for building application has become very attractive because of their huge benefits which includes but is not limited to low cost, lightweight, durability and environmental benign. However, the vulnerability of these composite types when exposed to fire restricts their use in areas where stringent fire safety conditions may not apply. Experimental determination at bench scale of composite particleboard fire behaviour has shown that the addition of flame retardants (FR) can delay the start and spread of fire. Bench scale data obtained in the cone calorimeter (CC) may not represent accurately a real scale fore behaviour during a fire scenario as documented by various researchers. The convolution model is a significant tool for predicting in real scale, fire behaviour of composites which depends on experimental inputs from CC data. In this paper, particleboards made from wood sawdust reinforced polyester composite were processed with FR at 0, 15 and 18% loading ratio using compression moulding technique. Test specimens cut from the FR-particleboards was exposed in horizontal orientation in the CC at 50kW/m2 to obtain experimental data and these were used as inputs to the prediction model. The predictive tool was used to predict the heat released rate and smoke production rate for the FR-particleboard. The results obtained shows that the FR-particleboard contributes very limited fire in real scale and compares well based on Euro-classification with particleboards from literature.

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Effects of variations in incident heat flux when using cone calorimeter test data for prediction of full‐scale heat release rates of polyurethane foam

Cited by 9 publications

References 8 publications

Assessing fire-blocking effectiveness of barrier fabrics in the cone calorimeter

Assessing fire-blocking effectiveness of barrier fabrics in the cone calorimeter

Assessing fire-blocking effectiveness of barrier fabrics in the cone calorimeter

Development and prediction of flame retarded particleboard fire behaviour in real scale

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