Behavior of Mock-Ups in the California Technical Bulletin 133 Test Protocol: Fabric and Barrier Effects.
Behavior of Mock-Ups in the California Technical
Bulletin 133 Test Protocol: Fabric and Barrier Effects.
(3462 K)
Ohlemiller, T. J.; Shields, J. R.
NISTIR 5653; 76 p. May 1995.
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
Order number: PB95-231585
Keywords:
fabrics; fire barriers; cone calorimeters; furniture;
furniture calorimeters; heat release rate; thermoplastic
fabrics
Abstract:
Twenty-seven material combinations (seven fabrics, four
barriers and two polyurethane foams) were tested in four
cushion mock-up form in accord with California Technial
Bulletin 133 using a furniture calorimeter. These same
material combinations were also tested in triplicate,
mainly at 35 kW/m2, in the Cone Calorimeter. Both
mock-up and Cone sample behavior were recorded on video
to facilitate behavioral comparisons of the samples;
distinct differences were noted for thermoplastic
fabrics. Heat fluxes were also measured on both scales;
the effective "external" flux in full-scale can exceed
50 kW/m2. The mock-up behavior always comprised at
least a heat release peak during the 80 second gas
burner exposure; it often included a later and larger
peak as well. The first peak could not be adequately
predicted by average heat release data from the Cone. A
dimensional analysis suggested a possible dependence on
four additional parameters, three of which can be
obtained from the Cone. A statistical fit of the
available data to these more complex types of
correlations appears to work best for charring fabrics;
it helps improve the correlation for all types of
fabrics but two material combinations were outliers.
The second heat release peak in the mock-up tests is
attributable to a "basal melt fire" mechanism; efforts
to correlate this behavior with Cone results have been
limited thus far and show little success.
