Materials and Fire Performance Testing of Barrier Fabrics in Mattresses and Upholstered Furniture.
Materials and Fire Performance Testing of Barrier
Fabrics in Mattresses and Upholstered Furniture.
(297 K)
Davis, R. D.; Ohlemiller, T. J.; Steckler, K. D.
Fire and Materials 2009. 11th International Conference.
Conference Papers. Proceedings. Organised by
Interscience Communications Limited. January 26-28,
2009, San Francisco, CA, Interscience Communications
Limited, London, England, 679-684 pp, 2009.
Keywords:
mattresses; upholstered furniture; fire tests; barriers;
fabrics; regulations; cushions; fire retardants;
polyurethane foams; heat release rate; cone
calorimeters; oxygen consumption; calorimetry;
polypropylenes; polyesters; ignition source; heat flux;
furniture calorimeters
Abstract:
Fire blocking barrier fabrics have been, or will likely
be, heavily used in mattresses and upholstered furniture
in order to comply with current or proposed fire
performance regulations, such as Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) 16 CFR 1633 (Standard for the
Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattress Sets) and 16 CFR
1634 (Standard for the Flammability of Residential
Upholstered Furniture - Proposed Rule). Over the last 30
years the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL)
at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) has provided significant contributions to the
current understanding of mattress and upholstered
furniture flammability We are continuing to provide
technical information on these topics with our most
recent activities focused on fire block barrier fabrics
used and/or intended for mattresses and upholstered
furniture. The subject of material, technology, and
measurement science needs for the development and
utilization of barrier fabrics in the mattress and
upholstered furniture industries will be the focus of a
BFRL sponsored workshop on March 18th-19th 2009. This
paper contains recent data illustrating why barrier
fabrics may be required for upholstered furniture, a
problem in barrier fabrics which could provide
insufficient protection of the foam, and how a High
Throughput approach to measure fiber shrinkage could be
used to develop superior performing barrier fabrics.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899