Fabrics for Testing the Ignition Propensity of Cigarettes.
Fabrics for Testing the Ignition Propensity of
Cigarettes.
(617 K)
Eberhardt, K. R.; Levenson, M. S.; Gann, R. G.
Fire and Materials, Vol. 21, No. 6, 259-264,
November/December 1997.
Keywords:
cigarettes; fabrics; ignition; test methods
Abstract:
This paper reports an analysis of data from a study
conducted by the cigarette industry to determine whether
the fabrics used in a measurement method for cigarette
ignition propensity reasonably represent the ignition
behavior of actual upholstery fabrics. A 'consistency
score' is defined to evaluate objectively the relative
agreement of ignition test results on various test
fabrics compared with the cotton duck fabrics used in
the measurement method. Particular attention is paid to
those cases where the cigarettes show statistically
significant differences by the chi-squared test. This
analysis finds that the aggregated set of 79 industry
fabrics ranks the four test cigarettes in the same order
as do the three cotton duck fabrics in the measurement
method. Thus, to the extent that the industry set is
representative of those fabrics used in upholstery, it
would be proper to use the three test fabrics as
surrogates for the purpose of determining the relative
ignition propensity of a cigarette. The analysis does
identify six to ten fabrics that would be expected to
show persistent reversals compared to the aggregate
ordering; however, three-fourths of the fabrics rank the
cigarettes consistently with the cotton duck fabrics.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899