Thermal Performance of Fire Fighters' Protective Clothing. Part 3. Simulating a TPP Test for Single-Layered Fabrics.
Thermal Performance of Fire Fighters' Protective
Clothing. Part 3. Simulating a TPP Test for
Single-Layered Fabrics.
(550 K)
Kukuck, S. R.; Prasad, K. R.
NISTIR 6993; 12 p. January 2003.
Sponsor:
U.S. Fire Administration, Washington, DC
Order number: PB2004-103361
Keywords:
protective clothing; fire fighters; fabrics; turnout
coats; exposure; nomex fabrics; kevlar fabrics; heat
transfer; fire research
Abstract:
Fabrics that are used in firefighter turnout gear are
specifically designed to offer protection from various
extreme conditions that may arise during fire exposures.
To optimize the design of these garments and understand
the conditions for which protection is offered requires
knowing how the transient response of the fabrics is
affected by the many possible factors that arise. A
model was recently developed that describes the heat and
mass (moisture) transfer across protective fabrics
subjected to incident thermal conditions and illustrated
the importance of including moisture transport effects
even under low incident flux conditions. This model is
now used to study the transient response of protective
fabrics to high intensity, short duration heat flux
exposures. Numerical simulations of a Thermal Protective
Performance test were conducted for two fabrics used as
outer shell materials for turnout garments. Predicted
results were found to favorably agree with experimental
measurements, with Thermal Protective Performance
ratings from the model within 6% of measured ratings.
The ability of the model to describe the temperature
across the entire thickness of the fabric rather than
simply present a sensor response during an exposure
provides additional information that can be further
utilized to predict the thermal degradation of the
materials.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899