Test standards, flammability

The Standard for Tests for Flammability of Plastic Materials for Parts in Devices and Appliances (UL 94) has methods for determining whether a material will extinguish, or burn and propagate flame. The UL Standard for Polymeric Materials-ShortTerm Property Evaluations is a series of small-scale tests used as a basis for comparing the mechanical, electrical, thermal, and resistance-to-ignition characteristics of materials. 

Factory Mutual Research Corporation, Specification Testing Standard for Less Flammable. Class Number 3972, Norwood, MA, May 1989. 

In 1974, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a consent order that resulted in the withdrawal of ASTM D 1692. The order was motivated by the fact that some ASTM flammability test standards used terms such as nonburning and self-extinguishing to label materials that perform well in the test. The Commission determined that these terms give the public a false sense of confidence in the actual fire performance of these materials. ASTM subsequently drafted a policy to... 

UL 94, Standard for Test for Flammability of Plastic Materials for Parts in Devices and Appliances, Underwriters Laboratories, Northbrook, IL. 

Designing FR textiles for required level of performance for specific end uses requires an understanding of the end-use conditions and specific flammability performance standards. Textiles in different applications are used either as a single component (e.g., apparel, curtains, bedsheets, etc.) or a component of the composite structure (e.g., furniture). In the latter, components other than textile material and their lay-up will also influence the burning behavior of the whole structure. This section discusses different fiber and fabric types used for different applications, associated fire hazards, and most relevant flammability performance standards. In Section 24.2, testing standards were discussed, which are used for testing materials to comply with performance standards discussed briefly in this section and in detail elsewhere.11... 

BS 5438 1989 British Standard Methods of test for flammability of textile fabrics when subjected to a small igniting flame apphed to the face or bottom edge of vertically oriented specimens. 

In addition to mechanical tests, sound absorption test and flammability test were also carried out. The aim of the sound absorption and the flammability tests was classification of the panels according to the available standards. 

ASTM 3894 [139] is the standard that tests the flammability of the specimen arranged as two walls only, each 1220 mm x 610 mm high, or two walls plus a ceiling 1220 mm X 610 mm high, or two walls plus a ceiling 1220 mm square, which are exposed to a premixed propane flame positioned in the lower corner. A specified temperature time calibration is specified, and results are assessed in terms of flame spread. Thermocouples are positioned at specified locations on the specimen surface, and the times to maximum temperatures and the maximum temperatures are recorded. 

Several of the recommendations under consideration hy the ESTG to help standardize flammability testing on adhesive and syntactic-containing composite components include ... 

A simple and rapid technique for testing the flammability of plastics was developed by theUnderwriters Laboratories. The already mentioned UL 94 standard system was firstly issued in 1970. Since then, it has spread all over the world, supplementing the oxygen index values by other essential flammability characteristics in many product guide leaflets. 

The first and hitherto most wide-spread standard flammability test for plastics foams, ASTM D 1692 has been withdrawn. The practically identical ISO 3582-1978 prescribes a test specimen of 150 mm x 50 mm with a thickness between 5 and 13 mm, placed on a horizontal wire gauze of 215 mm x 75 mm. 13 mm of the length of the gauze is bent upwards to a right angle as shown in Figure 3.60. The specimen is marked 125 mm from the end to be ignited then placed in a holder (Fig. 3.61). 

A Butler chimney apparatus was fabricated following the ASTM D3014 standard flammability test [80]. The tests were conducted on six cut specimens from material of uniform density in the centre part of the foam. Each foam specimen size was 254 X 19 X 19 mmh The cut foams were mounted on the vertical Butler chimney and ignited with a Bunsen burner for 10 seconds. The temperature of the Bunsen burner was monitored with a thermocouple and set to be 960 5 °C. The extinguishing time of the flame, after the burner was removed from the bottom of the foams, was recorded and reported as the burning time. The percentage mass retained or char yield was determined after each test run, and the char was collected for further analysis. 

ASTM D1692, Standard Method of Test for Flammability of Plastic Sheeting and Cellular Plastics, 1976. 

BS 5438 1989, British Standard Methods of Test for Flammability of Textile Fabrics when subjected to a Small Igniting Flame Applied to the Face or Bottom Edge of Vertically Oriented Specimens (1989). 

In a general sense, this refers to any material that is easily ignited and bums rapidly. Numerous testing method are available for testing the flammability of materials therefore, one has to know or specify the test standard that should be required or applied to determine the specific flammability of a material. A universal test standard has not been adopted to define the flammability of materials. It is synonymous with the term inflammable, which is generally considered obsolete due to its prefix in which may be incorrectly misunderstood as not flammable (e.g., incomplete is not complete). Flammable Limits See Explosive Limits. 

The ignition, combustion, and fire propagation behaviors of polymer are examined in various flammability test standards, where polymers are intentionally degraded, and the degradation products are ignited and burned under controlled exposure and environmental conditions. Various countries and agencies promulgate these types of flammability test standards ... 

Clean Room Flammability Standard for The Semiconductor Industry (NFPA 318 [77] FMR 4910 Test Standard [78] and UL 2360 Test Standard [79])... 

The NFPA 318 deals with the protection of clean rooms whereas the FMR 4910 and UL 2360 deal with the flammability of polymers for the clean rooms. In the FMR 4910 test standard, ASTM E2058 Fire Propagation Apparatus (FPA) [31] is used, whereas ASTM El354 Cone Calorimeter [36] is used in the UL 2360 test standard. Both test standards evaluate the fire propagation and smoke release behaviors of the polymers. Eor polymers for which fire propagation behavior cannot be defined clearly, both test standards use a large-scale parallel panel test [40, 63, 78]. Figures 11.12 and 11.13, discussed in an earlier section, illustrate the parallel panel test. 

FMRC Test Standard 4910, Clean Room Materials Flammability Test Protocol, Factory Mutual Research, Norwood, MA, September 1997. 

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) provide Standards UL 94 Tests for Flammability of Plastic Materials for Parts in Devices and Appliances. The standard is important for classifying polymeric materials (including polymer blends and alloys) for the use in electrical applications. It is widely used and the results are reported in the literature and in company catalogues. However, the requirements are not applicable to polymeric materials used in building construction or finishing. The tests conducted under this standard are summarized below. 

As part of the lEC 60695-11 series, they will replace the lEC standards 60695-2-4/0 and 60695-2-4/2 and also the ISO standards 1210 and 10351. They will also harmonize several pre-eminent international standards, including the US standard UL 94 Test for flammability of plastic materials for parts in devices and appliances, and ASTM 0635,03801 and 05048. 

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