Experimental study of moisture content effects on horizontal flame spread over thin cotton fabric

Abstract

In this paper, moisture content effects on horizontal flame spread were experimentally investigated using 0.245 mm thick, 28 cm tall and 28 cm wide untreated cotton fabric sheets with various moisture contents varying from 0 to 34%. The pyrolysis spread rates, flame heights and ignition times were obtained and analyzed. The corresponding results are as follows: as moisture content increases, the flame height and spread rate first increase and then decrease. In contrast, the ignition time shows an opposite trend with moisture content. The extreme values are observed in cases of 2% moisture content samples. Moreover, the flame spread rate in the warp direction is larger than that in the weft direction. For horizontal flame spread, the moisture content has the effect of consuming part of the heat feedback, which can play a role in reducing the flame spread rate; simultaneously, the moisture content can enlarge flame size and increase the convective heat transfer coefficient, thereby resulting in an increase in flame spread rate. The non-monotonous trend in pyrolysis spread rate is the result of competition between these effects.

The fire hazard potential of thermally thin cellulose nonwovens with different overlap configurations

“…Gao et al. 32 confirmed that the fire spread rate of cotton fabric is about 2.9 mm/s. The FSV of the nonwoven samples was higher than that of the thin cellulose paper under all the working conditions tested in the current work.…”

“…In addition, Avinash et al 42 showed a FSV of 17 mm/s when cellulose paper was placed at an inclination angle of less than 20 . Gao et al 32 confirmed that the fire spread rate of cotton fabric is about 2.9 mm/s. The FSV of the nonwoven samples was higher than that of the thin cellulose paper under all the working conditions tested in the current work.…”

“…A modified experimental apparatus based on Huang et al 22,31 and Gao et al 32 was constructed. The platform had three main components: an ignition platform, a smoke exhaust system, and a data acquisition system.…”

“…Recent research on the fire hazard of some conventional fabrics, such as flax, [23][24][25] cotton, 26,27 blended fabric, 28,29 and textile membranes, 30 has been reviewed. The factors affecting the risk of textile fire of type, 31 surface density, 25 moisture, 32,33 width, 24 and placement methods were investigated. The nature of shrinkage and residue of different textiles significantly affect the combustion process.…”

Mid-infrared emissivity of nylon, cotton, acrylic, and polyester fabrics as a function of moisture content

“…Numerous textile applications of infrared thermography can be found in the literature, including measuring energy dissipation during stretching, fabric radiant thermal conductivity, spreading of pyrolysis during combustion, and smoldering ignition in upholstery fabrics. [1][2][3][4] All of these thermographic measurement methods are dependent on the apparent emissivity of the measurement targets. Emissivities for a number of materials are given in literature, and those of some fabrics have been reported by Zhang et al and Brown and Young.…”