Fire retardancy test methods

The most extensive body of tests are provided under the auspices of ASTM Standard methods. Specific ASTM test designations and descriptions are available (48). The other compendium of fire-retardant tests are contained ia Federal Test Method Standards 191A (49). 

The assessment of the contribution of a product to the fire severity and the resulting hazard to people and property combines appropriate product flammabihty data, descriptions of the building and occupants, and computer software that includes the dynamics and chemistry of fires. This type of assessment offers benefits not available from stand-alone test methods quantitative appraisal of the incremental impact on fire safety of changes in a product appraisal of the use of a given material in a number of products and appraisal of the differing impacts of a product in different buildings and occupancies. One method, HAZARD I (11), has been used to determine that several commonly used fire-retardant—polymer systems reduced the overall fire hazard compared to similar nonfire retarded formulations (12). 

The Fire Tests for Flame Resistant Textiles and Films, issued by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) ia 1989, is the method most used by iadustrial fire-retardant finishers (ca 1993) (50). It has been approved by the American National Standards Institute. 

Flammability. The fire hazard associated with plastics has always been difficult to assess and numerous tests have been devised which attempt to grade materials as regards flammability by standard small scale methods under controlled but necessarily artificial conditions. Descriptions of plastics as selfextinguishing, slow burning, fire retardant etc. have been employed to describe their behaviour under such standard test conditions, but could never be regarded as predictions of the performance of the material in real fire situations, the nature and scale of which can vary so much. 

Fire retardant treatment, for wood, 26 348 Fire science, 11 450 Fire test methods, 11 449—450 Fire test terminology, 19 588 Fire-tube furnaces, 12 319—320, 327 Firing, of ferrites, 11 73 Firming agents, 12 32 as food additives, 12 57 First aid and rescue, 21 858 First aid, for nitric acid exposure, 17 192 First failure, time to, 26 987 First falling rate period, 23 67 First-generation ionic liquids, 26 837-838, 841, 865... 

Fire-Retardant Coatings on Acoustical Surfaces and Test Methods for Their Evaluation... 

During the initial stages of a fire, fire-retardant-treated wood contributes less heat than does untreated wood, especially from the flammable volatiles (8,26). This means that the spread of fire to nearby combustibles is slow. The fire tends to be confined to the primary source. In the ASTM E84 test for building materials, treated specimens produce about 75 percent less heat than untreated red oak. In a total combustion test, however, such as the National Bureau of Standards potential heat method (54), both treated and untreated wood release about the same total heat. 

Studies are currently being conducted on smoke development and heat release rate from treated and untreated wood and wood products (52,56). An evaluation of the available treatment systems for wood shingles and shakes was completed using artificial weathering (11). A further development from this work was a new ASTM Standard Method D2898 (67,68) for testing durability of fire-retardant treatment of wood. 

Karlsson B. Performance-based test methods for material flammability. In Fire Retardant Materials. Horrocks AR, Price D, Eds. Woodhead Publishing Limited Cambridge, U.K., 2001 chap. 12, pp. 355-377. 

Babrauskas V. Fire test methods for evaluation of fire-retardant efficacy in polymeric materials. In Fire Retardancy of Polymeric Materials. Grand AF, Wilkie CA, Eds. Marcel Dekker Inc. New York, 2000 chap. 3, pp. 81-113. 

ASTM D 1360 Standard Test Method for Fire Retardancy of Paints (Cabinet Method)... 

NFPA 701 Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame Propagation of Textiles and Films NFPA 703 Standard for Fire Retardant Impregnated Wood and Fire Retardant Coatings for Building Materials... 

The different methods of obtaining the fire resistance of the polymers have been discussed in previous chapters (Chapters 4 through 13). Fire codes and fire tests relevant to FRPs have also been discussed in previous chapters (Chapters 14 through 16 and 20 through 22), but there will be some discussions of tests solely relevant to composites in this chapter. This chapter will focus primarily on some methods for preparing FRPs, some of the factors that have to be considered when designing an FRP part and typical applications where fire retardant FRP materials are used. 

No single laboratory test can determine the complete burning character of a particular textile.7 There are two types of tests, scientific or research test methods and the standard test methods. The research test methods help in understanding the burning behavior and are used to develop new products or fire-retardant finishes. 

Vl/7 e have had a continuing interest in flame retardants, methods of test and mechanisms of action of such materials. Recently, we reported studies involving fire retardant additives, syntheses of monomers, and the preparation of copolymers to achieve flame resistance (41). In addition, considerable synthetic work in phosphorus chemistry has been pursued at our Stamford Research Laboratories. Some of this has been reported by Grayson, Rauhut, Buckler, Wystrach, and co-workers. This chapter and the one following result from this background. 

Fire retardancy of wood involves a complex series of simultaneous chemical reactions, the products of which take part in subsequent reactions. Most fire retardants used for wood increase the dehydration reactions that occur during thermal degradation so that more char and fewer combustible volatiles are produced. The mechanism by which this happens depends on the particular fire retardant and the thermal-physical environment. This chapter presents a literature review of the investigations into the mechanisms, a discussion of test methods used for determining fire retardancy, the various formulations used to make wood fire retardant, and the research needs in the field of fire retardancy. 

Knowledge of various test methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of fire retardants is necessary to understand the mechanisms... 

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