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Evaluate the flammability of a PU foam with double-scale analysis

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Abstract

Two-scale tests, microscale and bench scale, are conducted to analyze the flammability of a flexible polyurethane foam. Microscale tests include simultaneous thermal analysis coupled to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and microscale combustion calorimeter (MCC). Evolved gas components, heat release rate per unit mass, total heat release, derived heat release capacity, and minimum ignition temperature are obtained. Bench scale tests are performed on cone calorimeter. Peak heat release rate per unit area, effective heat of combustion, minimum incident heat flux for ignition, and total heat release per unit area of different incident heat fluxes are obtained. FO-category of the PU foam is estimated by multiple discriminant function analysis based on the results of cone calorimeter test. The relationship between the two-scale tests is analyzed. The minimum ignition temperatures derived from multi heating rate MCC tests are used to predict the time to ignition and compared with the results from cone calorimeter tests. This PU foam is evaluated as a high fire hazard polymer having low heat release capacity, low ignition temperature, and short ignition time.

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Abbreviations

EHC:

Effective heat of combustion

h g :

Combustion heat

MCC:

Microscale combustion calorimeter

pHRR:

Maximum HRR per unit mass

PU:

Polyurethane

T onset :

Onset temperature

T pHRR :

Temperature at maximum HRR per unit mass

THR:

Total heat release

t ig :

Time to ignition

t pHRR :

Time to peak HRR

TRP:

Thermal response parameter

q r :

Incident heat flux

q min :

Minimum heat flux for ignition

q net :

Net heat flux

β :

Heating rate

h g :

The total heat of gasification per unit mass

κ :

Heat conductivity

ρ :

Density

η c :

Heat release capacity

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Acknowledgements

This research is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 51776098, and supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, no. 30918015101 and China-Slovak joint research project 8-8.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210014, China

    Qiang Xu

  2. School of Computer Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210014, China

    Cong Jin

  3. Faculty of Wood Science and Technology, Technical University in Zvolen, 96053, Zvolen, Slovakia

    Andrea Majlingova & Martin Zachar

  4. Department of Fire Prevention and Rescue Control, National University of Public Service, Budapest, 1101, Hungary

    Agoston Restas

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  1. Qiang Xu
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  2. Cong Jin
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  3. Andrea Majlingova
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  4. Martin Zachar
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  5. Agoston Restas
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Correspondence to Qiang Xu.

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Xu, Q., Jin, C., Majlingova, A. et al. Evaluate the flammability of a PU foam with double-scale analysis. J Therm Anal Calorim 135, 3329–3337 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7494-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7494-2

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