VERTICAL ORIENTATION CONE CALORIMETTER TESTING OF POLYURETHANE FOAMS

摘要

Previous work by NIST on the studies of how flexible polyurethane foam drips and flows duringrnburning revealed that the formation of a burning “pool” of decomposed polyurethane was a significantrncontributor to potential flashover events when foam in beds or furniture was involved in a building fire. Tornthat end, NIST pioneered the use of a specialized sample holder for flexible polyurethane foams whichrncould mimic and quantify the heat release of dripping foams in the cone calorimeter test (ASTM E1354).rnThis holder placed the polyurethane foam in the vertical orientation as the effects of dripping on heatrnrelease were not measured when the sample was placed in its normal horizontal orientation. In this paper,rnresults on use of this sample holder with modifications for ease-of-use and open flame ignition underrnunforced (0 kW/m~2) heat flux are discussed. Heat release rates are compared for non-flame retardant foamrnin both horizontal and vertical orientation, and experimental factors governing reproducibility arerndiscussed. Finally, some discussion on advancing this technique will be presented.