Flammability characterization of foam plastics

Cleary, Thomas G.; Quintiere, James G.

doi:10.6028/nist.ir.4664

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…6 Indeed, to identify the potential fire hazards to life safety from insulation materials in buildings, numerous authors have extensively studied the fire performance of different types of insulation under different approaches. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] The biggest concern, represented as the flammability and energy release, has classically been addressed using bench-scale experimentation, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] eg, determining the limiting oxygen index according 24 to ASTM D2863 and assessing ignition properties, heat release, and flame spread by using the cone calorimeter 25 or the LIFT apparatus. 26 During recent decades, the fire performance of these materials has been improved by applying flame retardancy techniques, ie, promoting charring behaviour and endothermic reactions in the solid phase, which is typically researched at material scale using thermogravimetry.…”

Section: Fire Hazards From Combustible Insulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire performance of charring closed‐cell polymeric insulation materials: Polyisocyanurate and phenolic foam

2018

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Summary Results are presented from 2 series of ad hoc experimental programmes using the cone calorimeter to investigate the burning behaviour of charring closed‐cell polymeric insulation materials, specifically polyisocyanurate (PIR) and phenolic (PF) foams. These insulation materials are widely used in the construction industry due to their relatively low thermal conductivity. However, they are combustible in nature; therefore, their fire performance needs to be carefully studied, and characterisation of their thermal degradation and burning behaviour is required in support of performance‐based approaches for fire safety design. The first series of experiments was used to examine the flaming and smouldering of the char from PIR and PF. The peak heat release rate per unit area was within the range of 120 to 170 kW/m2 for PIR and 80 to 140 kW/m2 for PF. The effective heat of combustion during flaming was within the range of 13 to 16 kJ/g for PIR and around 16 kJ/g for PF, while the CO/CO2 ratio was within 0.05 to 0.10 for PIR and 0.025 to 0.05 for PF. The second experimental programme served to map the thermal degradation processes of pyrolysis and oxidation in relation to temperature measurements within the solid phase under constant levels of nominal irradiation. Both programmes showed that surface regression due to smouldering was more significant for PF than PIR under the same heat exposure conditions, essentially because of the different degree of overlap in pyrolysis and oxidation reactions. The smouldering of the char was found to self‐extinguish after removal of the external heat source.

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Section: Fire Hazards From Combustible Insulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire performance of charring closed‐cell polymeric insulation materials: Polyisocyanurate and phenolic foam

2018

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“…Other research focusing on estimating material properties as inputs for fire modelling have also used these thermophysical properties as the inputs or variables during the estimation process. Lastly, the thermal conductivity and specific heat of material are also useful for the prediction of solid ignition and melt flow .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermophysical properties of polyurethane foams and their melts

et al. 2013

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The thermal conductivity (λ) and the specific heat (cp) of seven polyurethane foam formulations and their melts are obtained using a transient plane source technique called the Hot Disk experiment. In the experiment, the Hot Disk sensor is sandwiched by the samples and acts as both a heat source and a temperature sensor. The fundamental assumption is that throughout the experiment, the heat from the sensor does not penetrate beyond the boundaries of the sample. The suitable sample dimensions and sensor radius are determined from the preliminary calculations. Through sensitivity analysis, the appropriate measuring time and output power for the experiments are established. For polyurethane foams, λ ranges from 0.048 to 0.050 W/m K, and cp ranges from 2359 to 2996 J/kg K. For melts, λ ranges from 0.186 to 0.200 W/m K, and cp ranges from 1958 to 2076 J/kg K. When foam decomposes into melts, the changes in thermophysical properties shows λ increases by approximately 300%, whereas cp decreases by approximately 20%. On the basis of these changes, the collapse of the foam structure into melt appears to improve the heat transfer through the material. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Recently, Hidalgo et al 12 presented thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and an assessment of flammability parameters (critical heat flux for ignition and thermal inertia) through cone calorimeter testing 13 for the specific materials studied within their research framework. Characterisation of the thermal decomposition experienced by several types of polyisocyanurate and phenolic foam insulation at high temperatures has been pursued by several authors.…”

Section: Thermal Degradation From Charring Closed-cell Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Characterisation of the thermal decomposition experienced by several types of polyisocyanurate and phenolic foam insulation at high temperatures has been pursued by several authors. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Recently, Hidalgo et al 12 presented thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and an assessment of flammability parameters (critical heat flux for ignition and thermal inertia) through cone calorimeter testing 13 for the specific materials studied within their research framework. Further work was developed to study the pyrolysis and smouldering processes of these foams in relation to temperature measurements within the solid phase under constant levels of nominal irradiation.…”

Section: Thermal Degradation From Charring Closed-cell Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire performance of closed‐cell charring insulation materials in plasterboard‐insulation assemblies

2019

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Summary This paper presents an experimental study on the fire performance of two types of plastic charring insulation materials when covered by a plasterboard lining. The specific insulation materials correspond to rigid closed‐cell plastic foams, a type of polyisocyanurate (foam A) and a type of phenolic foam (foam B), whose thermal decomposition and flammability were characterised in previous studies. The assemblies were instrumented with thermocouples. The plasterboard facing was subjected to constant levels of irradiation of 15, 25, and 65 kW m−2 using the heat‐transfer rate inducing system. These experiments serve as (1) an assessment of the fire behaviour of these materials studied at the assembly scale and (2) an identification of the fire hazards that these systems pose in building construction. The manifestation of the hazards occurred via initial pyrolysis reactions and release of volatiles followed by various complex behaviours including char oxidation (smouldering), cracking, and expansion of the foam. Gas‐phase conditions may support ignition of the volatiles, sustained burning, and ultimately spread of the flame through the unexposed insulation face. The results presented herein are used to validate the insulation “critical temperature” concept used for a performance‐based methodology focused on the selection of suitable thermal barriers for flammable insulation.

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Flammability characterization of foam plastics

Cited by 20 publications

References 6 publications

Fire performance of charring closed‐cell polymeric insulation materials: Polyisocyanurate and phenolic foam

Fire performance of charring closed‐cell polymeric insulation materials: Polyisocyanurate and phenolic foam

Thermophysical properties of polyurethane foams and their melts

Fire performance of closed‐cell charring insulation materials in plasterboard‐insulation assemblies

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