Effect of Ambient Oxygen Concentration on Thermal Decomposition of Organic Polymers

摘要

Organic polymers are used frequently in structures and ransportation systems. To provide input to numerical models for hazard and vulnerability analyses involving fire environments, thermal decomposition of several organic polymers in atmospheres of nitrogen and atmospheres of varying concentrations of oxygen in nitrogen have been investigated using TGA-FTIR, GC-FTIR, DSC, and infrared microprobe. Results from earlier investigations of polymer decomposition in nitrogen atmospheres were used to determine decomposition mechanisms and to develop rate expressions for use in numerical simulations. Materials studied included poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(diallyl phthalate) (DAP), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), poly(phenylene sulphide) (PPS), several polyurethanes, and several epoxies.