Three-Dimensional Kinetic Model for the Swelling of Intumescent Materials.
Three-Dimensional Kinetic Model for the Swelling of
Intumescent Materials.
(167 K)
Butler, K. M.; Baum, H. R.; Kashiwagi, T.
NISTIR 5499; September 1994.
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Annual
Conference on Fire Research: Book of Abstracts.
October 17-20, 1994, Gaithersburg, MD, 109-110 pp, 1994.
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
Order number: PB95-104964
Keywords:
fire research; intumescent coatings; kinetics; swelling;
heat transfer; gasification; fire models
Abstract:
An intumescent coating protects the underlying surface
from fire by swelling into a thick insulating char.
Design of intumescent materials has proceeded largely by
systematic testing of a variety of formulations, since
the mechanisms of physical, thermal and chemical
behavior are not as yet well understood. Previous
models of intumescent behavior have treated the system
as a one-dimensional heat transfer problem through a
coating consisting of a char layer and a layer of virgin
material separated by a thin pyrolysis zone. In this
work, a fully three-dimensional, time-dependent
numerical model combining the dynamics of the swelling
process, the heat transfer through the coating, and the
chemistry of gasification is described.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899