INTERMEDIATE-SCALE FIRE PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITE PANELS UNDER VARYING LOADS

摘要

New aircraft are being designed with increasing quantities of composite materials used inrntheir construction. Different from the more traditional metals, composites have a higher propensity tornburn. This presents a challenge to transportation safety analyses, as the aircraft structure nowrnrepresents an additional fuel source involved in the fire scenario. Most of the historical fire testing ofrncomposite materials is aimed at studying decomposition, flammability or yield strength under firernconditions. The majority of this testing has been performed on a small-scale. Heterogeneousrnreactions are often length-scale dependent, and this is thought to be particularly true for compositesrnwhich exhibit significant microscopic dynamics that can affect macro-scale behavior. A series ofrndiscovery tests has been designed to evaluate composite materials under various structural loadingrnconditions with a consistent applied thermal boundary condition. Mass-loss, heat flux, andrntemperature response have been measured throughout the experiment. Several panels have beenrntested, including simple composite panels, and sandwich panels. A major objective of the testing wasrnto understand the importance of the structural loading on a composite material during exposure to firelikernconditions. During flaming combustion at early times, there are features of the panelrndecomposition that are unique to the type of structural loading imposed on the panels. At load levelsrntested, fiber reaction rates at later times appear to be independent of the structural loading.