SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 28 September 2020
STP162420190090

Development of a Standard Testing Procedure for Evaluating Firefighter Protective Hoods on PyroHead Fire Test System

Source

The PyroHead Fire Test System originally was developed as an assessment and evaluation tool for military flash hoods. These military flash hoods typically consist of one to two layers of material so that military personnel may run missions and perform other tasks unhindered by the looming threat of heat stress exhaustion. As firefighter protective hoods are typically constructed of two, three, or more layers of fire-resistant materials, the same procedures for military flash-hood testing on PyroHead may not be adequate because of the added thickness and weight, which increases thermal protection. Therefore, the military flash-hood procedures, such as exposure duration, may not reveal differences among the various firefighter protective hoods. To understand and gather cohesive data about how different variables affect thermal protection of the hood as a product, this study reviews the methodology and analysis of determining a standard testing procedure (STP) for testing firefighter protective hoods on a thermal flashfire headform. Three considerations were made when deciding the best STP: mounting configuration, exposure time, and number of replicates. The final parameters were decided to be a hood-only mounting configuration, an exposure time of 7 s, and five replicate measurements. This STP for testing firefighter protective hoods for system-level thermal protection was developed to effectively compare performance differences between hood types, styles, and fit. The results from utilizing this STP will provide comprehensive insight as to which properties affect the thermal protective performance of the firefighter protective hoods.

Author Information

Carlton, Nigel, P.
North Carolina State University, Textile Protection and Comfort Center, Raleigh, NC, US
Ormond, R., Bryan
North Carolina State University, Textile Protection and Comfort Center, Raleigh, NC, US
Joines, Jeffrey, A.
North Carolina State University, Textile Engineering, Chemistry & Science Dept., Raleigh, NC, US
Morton-Aslanis, John
North Carolina State University, Textile Protection and Comfort Center, Raleigh, NC, US
Barker, Roger, L.
North Carolina State University, Textile Protection and Comfort Center, Raleigh, NC, US
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Details
Pages: 18–30
DOI: 10.1520/STP162420190090
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-7695-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-7694-2