Exploring the Role of Melt Flow in Polymer Flammability

摘要：

Polymers in general exhibit melt flow behavior under fire, which may accelerate flame spread and shorten the time to flashover. The objective of this study is to investigate the interaction between vertical polymer sheet combustion and melt flow induced pool fire. Select polypropylene (PP) sample sheets with a thickness of 3 mm, 5 mm and 6 mm are tested using a specifically designed rig with the help of an ISO9705 fire test room. Heat release rate, smoke temperature and other common parameters in fire hazard analysis are measured and results indicate that both thickness and pool fire size played an important role in overall fire hazard. PP sheets with a thickness of 3 mm develop faster initially, while 5 mm and 6 mm PP sheets exhibit a higher peak heat release rate. Moreover, according to the experimental data, the combustion process can be divided into three periods, namely thickness control period, coupled period and pool fire control period. The significance of thickness and pool fire size varies dramatically in different periods. The results suggest that melt flow behavior of polymers need to be carefully considered in fire protection engineering.

关键词： melt flow behavior polymer combustion heat release rate

作者: WANG Xuegui CHENG Xudong ZHANG Ruifang ZHANG Heping LO Siuming

作者单位: State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, A State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, A Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

会议类型: 国际会议

会议名称: The 2010 International Symposium on Safety Science and Technology(2010 安全科学与技术国际会议)

会议地点: 杭州

会议语种:英文

页码: 668-673

在线出版日期: 2010-10-26（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）