SMOKE TOXICITY ANALYSES OF COMPOSITES FOR NAVAL APPLICATIONS USING FTIR SPECTROSCOPY

摘要

The use of composites is becoming increasingly more widespread in manned spaces on U.S. Naval ships, resulting in additional flame spread, smoke, and toxicity concerns. While a number of test procedures are widely used in analyzing smoke toxicity for the civilian building and transportation industries, none provide the level of confidence required by the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy is requiring lower detection limits than other industries and requesting better confidence limits with each new ship design. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a state-of-the-art technology for analysis of fire effluents that is rapidly gaining worldwide acceptance. The most challenging aspect is defining baseline parameters adequately to provide good repeatability. Calibration, sampling, and choice of equipment are all critical aspects. This paper explores the history and motivation of toxicity testing for Naval applications and defines the test method necessary to meet the toxicity requirements of Design Data Sheet (DDS) 078-1, which contains the latest fire performance requirements for composite materials.