SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1986
STP17327S

Protection Offered by Lightweight Clothing Materials to the Heat of a Fire

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Factors affecting the thermal performance of protective clothing are discussed in a general way, and a laboratory method of achieving heat absorption rates typical of those occurring during exposure to a large fire is described. Using this method, the strength retention of fabrics during short-term exposure at high heat flux levels has been found to depend on the temperature achieved at a given instant during exposure and to be independent of the mechanism of heat absorption. A comparison of the duration of exposure to high heat flux levels that causes various polymeric fabrics to lose most of their original strength or to autoignite predicts that such high-temperature materials as polybenzimidazole (PBI) and Nomex/Kevlar can provide a few extra seconds of protection against the extreme heat of a large fire.

Some difficulties associated with the use of an instrumented skin-simulant device for determining the rate of conductive heat transfer through fabrics of various kinds during standard gas flame impingement tests are also discussed. There is, at present, no accurate way to translate temperatures measured at a depth of 500 μm in a fabric-covered skin simulant to temperatures appropriate for a depth of 80 μm, the skin depth to which clinical data regarding tissue damage are related. Until the conductive heat flow equation can be revised, ranking of fabrics by the maximum temperature achieved in the skin simulant remains the only reliable method of using data from this device.

Author Information

Schoppee, MM
Albany International Research Co., Dedham, MA
Welsford, JM
Albany International Research Co., Dedham, MA
Abbott, NJ
Albany International Research Co., Dedham, MA
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Developed by Committee: F23
Pages: 340–357
DOI: 10.1520/STP17327S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4967-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0461-7