Testing & quality analysis of flammability of various fabrics

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1 Testing & quality analysis of flammability of various fabrics Tarun Grover 1, Sumit Shinde 2 & Dr.Asimananda Khandual 3 Manipal Univcrsity, Ka.rna.taka, , India. ABSTRACT Many s have been devised for measuring the parameters like after-flame, afterglow and are involved in the burning of fabrics and products made from fabrics or related. In order to evaluate the flammability, we can have ranged from small scale vertically flammability to horizontal tests and all angles in between, such as holdinga specimen in the small flame of a match, then evaluate the self extinguishment of the fabrics upon removal of the ignition source. Due to utilizing of these highly sophisticated evaluations involving apparatus costing thousands of dollars. Ignition, flame spread, rate of flamespread, production of combustion products, and heat transfer have been measured. Keywords : NFPA: National Fire Protection Association, FR. : Flame Retardant, ASTM Standards, ES: European s. Introduction Flammability testing is probably one of the most important testing procedures within the textile industry because it has vital safety implications in the suppression of a fire. It has been statistically shown that the major cause of casualties in fire can be directly attributed to the accidental ignition of upholstery and textiles, so it is only sensible that proper flammability s should be in place. The role of fabric manufacturer has significant by improving the flammability performance at the design stage to ensure a safer interior environment. There are lot of flammability s to test for upholstery or vertical surface fabrics which has been adopted as the norm throughout the world but unfortunately, all works only for single sample test at a time and the plethora of different s in force internationally reflects the different ways of approaching the whole flammability issue.a single has been brought in which is acceptable throughout the European Union, EN 1021 : 1994, but this only veils cigarette and match tests - nothing more rigorous - and other national tests continue to proliferate.(1) This guide looks at some of the most important international s and test s which apply to upholstery fabrics. Dismally, 'Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture, 2 Assistant Professor, MIT, 3 Head, Dept of fashion & Apparel Technology college of Engineering& Technology, Bhubaneswar, India. it can never be a stagnant document, but should hopefully provide a better insight into the main regional variations and the complex issue that flammability testing has become. Background and current practices Test s have traditionally been used to measure the fire performance of a material or system to permit comparative assessment, rarely attempting to replicate real fire exposure conditions. More recently, the emphasis has moved towards test s that replicate both real fire exposure conditions and end use installation and orientation. While no fire test will be able to replicate all real fires, intcrnationally there are increasing attempts to devise test s utilizing at least as real a fire scenario as possible within the bounds of providing a test to be applied equally to all similar products. In addition, the newer test s are providing more detailed information on the fire growth potential, HRR and other material specific execution data that can be used directly with models for fire safety engineering (2). Historical background It is not all phenomenal that application of well established flammability test is extended to non - realistic application testing or that the test becomes obsolete in the face of new technological developments and. A case in the first point is of the tunnel test, ASTM E84, developed to test the fire hazard of wall& ceiling interior finishing but COLOURAGE o.july.2016 o 41

2 FLAME RETARDANCY PEER REVIEWED Table1:Different s of flammability Organization Name of test Designation no Specimen Size (mm) No of spc:cimc:n Ignition soun:c: &time conditions Property measured Material Canvas product international Flame retardant used in tent:lge CPAI-84 70*305 4W4F Gas B (12s) Matheson char length Tentage Fire tests for tatiles snwl scale 89*254 5W5F 12s Oven dry, Fire test11 for textiles mge scale 610"'215 4 Folded flat, no frame min Oven dry Fire tests for tatiles field test 38*102 no cabinet, no frame 1 Wooden match 12s Ambient of cloth Method *305 5W5F 12s of cloth Method *305 5WSF methane 12s of cloth field test Method *127 No cabinet 3 Candle 12 s Ambient of of high heat flux Method *305No cabinet, no frame 5WSF butane 12 s Shrinkage, after flame City of Boston Fire code 1959 Article *254No cabinet 3 10s Ambient Flammable Decorations City of New York. Fire code 1940 Pata * s 40%RH Sta.te of California Fire code title 19 Pata Small scale 64*318 3W3F 12 s Oven dry Char length Consumer product safety commission Children sleepwear DocFF3-71 DocFF *254 3W2F 15 Seams 3s Oven dry Char length S1eepwear 0-6X 7-14 of textile chemists & colorists Fire resistance of textile & fabrics *254 3W3F Matheson GasB 12s society of testing& Semi - restraint test D *381 No frame 5 3s Oven dry 105 c char area, weight loss society of testing & Flame resistance of aetospace F-501- B8 70* s 50%RH, flame drip & mate1ws British s Flammability of fabrics Method ABS * s After flame Canadian Test for flame lame resistance vertical test MJ *315 No frame - 12s -,, shrinkage German fedenl republic Burning behavior of fil.brics DIN *340-3s & 15s, 42 o COLOURAGE ojuly20l6

3 PEER REVIEWED than used to rate floor coverings(3). Consequently, a separate test was developed for floor coverings and carpets in which the specimen are exposed under more realistic test to condition more similar to their full scale fire behavior,astm E 648 which was specifically designed to apply to floor coverings was a result of those efforts (4). Currently, the NFPA 701 test is specified in codes for testing and certifying drapery fabrics. Recent full scale experiments that a multiple layer drape made from a char former and a thermoplastic material burned vigorously (5). Both of these met the specified criteria of NFPA 701 when tested individually. The vigorous fire,with the multiple -layer drape, occurred when the molten thermoplastic adhered to the char forming layer, thus causing a sustained propagation. The existence of this phenomenon has been described in the 1989 version of NFPA 701.(6) To address this problem, the centre for fire research is presently working with the textile manufacturers institute and the fiber manufacturers to develop guidelines for a more meaningful test for multiple layers of fabrics.(this project involves the examination of small & mid-size tests, as well as full-scale tests of multiple layers of drapes and curtains. The objective of the project is to examine-layer drapery fire tests.) A series of back to back tests was carried out to compare the European and national classes achieved by a range of different construction products. The data were used to develop correlations to align the European and British classifications with the existing national classes to ensure that current safety levels were maintained in accordance with the primary policy objective of life safety of people in and around buildings in the event of a fire. It is evidently possible that problems of different nature exist for the single layer fabric tests.several of these tests are listed in table no 1. The principle of these tests is to define the self-extinguishment of the fabrics where self-extinguishment is defined by cessation of fabrics or glowing of vertical specimen mounted on a U shaped frame after removal of small igniter flame. According to table no 1, the test differs mostly in minor details : pre-conditioning of the specimen, specimen size, ignition source, etc. Others like ASTM D 3659 semi restrainttest and the NFPA 701.Largescale test differ by dispensing with the specimen frames, allowing the specimen to shrink,moveetc. FLAME RETARDANCY Many of these tests adopted their own advantages and disadvantages during performing tests due to different characteristics of fabric properties which differ significantly in their response while igniting them. In simple terms flame retardant treated cellulosic and wool fabrics forms chars when exposed to an ignition source. Hence, char formation makes a good sign to reduce the flame propagation in fabrics. On the other hand when subject to thermoplastic fibers, it shrinks,melts or drip while exposing to bottom flame. There are various other international s & test s which are used globally to access the fabric flammability properties and these s are very similar for evaluating in results like intensity of fire exposure, using a very small fire source. Besides, the vertical textile testing apparatus, others which are 45 angle tests (CAN/CGSB-4.2 No.27.5[41] and ASTM D1230[42],) have significantly using for testing the flammability of fabrics. However, distinction reflects in the mode of ignition to fabrics: base, surface, and edge which are illustrated in Figure 2. In the base ignition, the specimen is ignited at its lower end, with the burner mounted vertically directly underneath the vertical specimen. For the surface ignition technique, the burner is positioned horizontally, perpendicular to the vertical specimen. Edge ignition involves tilting the burner 30 from the vertical, and applying it to the fabric surface.the base ignition technique is used for ASTM D3659 [47] and ASTM F501 [48]. Either surface or edge ignition can be used for CAN/CGSB-4.2 No.27.3 (45], CAN/CGSB-4.2 No.27.4 [43], CAN/CGSB-4.2 No [49], ISO 6940 [44] and ISO 6941[46]. Often surface ignition is used first, with edge ignition only being used if the specimen failed to ignite using the surface ignition technique. Surface Ignition Edge Ignition Base I gnition Fig.2 Various Ignition Techniques for Vertical Standard Flammability Tests Guide for specimen holder Specimenholder Fig.1Small Scale Vertical textile testing apparatus The national reaction to fire classes are based on the performance in the fire tests BS 476 Parts4, 6, 7, and 11 [7-10]. The European classification system for reaction-to-fire testing consists of six s; a suite of four test s, a classification and a covering specimen conditioning and substrate selection. The documents are as follows: BS EN : Fire Classification of construction products and building elements. Part 1: Classification using test data from reaction to fire tests.[11] COLOURAGE ojuly 2o16 o 43

4 FLAME RETARDANCY PEER REVIEWED BS EN ISO 1182: Reaction to fire tests for building products.non-combustibilitytest.[12] BS EN ISO 1716: Reaction to fire tests for products - Determination of the heat of the gross heat of combustion (calorific value). [13] BS EN 13823: Reaction to fire tests for building products - Building products excluding floorings exposed to the thermal attack: by a single burning ltem.[14] BS EN ISO : Reaction to fire tests lgnitability of building products subjected to direct impingement of flamepart 2:Single-flame source test. [15] BSEN 13238: Reaction to fire tests for buildingproducts Conditioning procedures and general rules for selection of substrates. [16] These tests are intended to predict the contributions of various to the outcome of relatively large fires. Some of them are: The proposed room fire test (17), Presendy under discussion In ASTM E 5 sub-committee E05-13, which measures time to flash over and heat release of mounted on the walls of the room. Two small scale test which measure the rate of heat release under irradiance level which approach those found in real fires,proposed ASTM E-1354 for Heat & Visible smoke release rates for an oxygen consumption calorimeter (cone calorimeter).(18) Product Area Fixed Screen& BS 4764' Bddah SWldanl Requirement Uph.olatered Fumitme BS I-- Loose Covers BS 5852lgnidon source 1 Divan Beds and Matttee1ee I-- BS 7177 ignition 10urce 5 or 7 PillOWB, Qullt1etc BS 7175 ignition Souree 0 and 5 Pressure Relief Produc:tlll BS 7175 ignition Souree 0 and 5 Blanket111 Counterpanes Curtains,Dtapea and Bllnde Medical Devic:ee Wbeelchails BS ISO Scatter eu.hione and Seat Pad8 Furniture inmobile Vehi.cl.ee Polypropylene (hard bac:ked) chain PR (flre...realltant Polypropylene Shelll Temle Floor Coverings SoftToya Apparel BS 5722, BS 5438 & EN 1103 Dilpoaable, Sheetll, Pill0WIIllp1, BS5867 drapes and Bibs - Oeaning BS EN ISO Another type of classification is achieved by a material or composite product which is either: Composed throughout by of limited combustibility; or A class 1 material when tested in accordance with BS 476-7, which has a fire propagation index Q) of not more than12 and sub-index (Ii) of not more than6. Conclusion After examining the whole s of flammability apparatus and their findings could be used to developed a novel flammability apparatus in the approach of three specimen can be tested at a time which had not described in any previous. References 1. Technical note,498-2)ssued SEPTEMBER 1970,Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech. Note 498-2, 39 pages (Sept. 1970) CODEN:NBlNA. 2. Study report no.170[2007],"study of fire test s applicable to flexible fabrics, duct and cables by pet collier''. 3. society of testing and, standatd test for surface burning characteristics of building Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol ASTM, Philadelphia,PA,1987,pp Belles, D. W. & Bentel, JJ., Do multiple- layer draperies pass the single -layer fire test? Flre Journal, Sept/Oct (1988) 25-30, society of testing and, standatd test for critical radiant flux of floor-covering systems using a radiant heat energy source.1987 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, E , Section 4, Vol ASTM,Philadelphia, PA,1987, pp ,NFPA 701Standard test of fire tests for fire resistant & fi.lms, 1989 BS edition,1989 annual technical committee reports,tcr- BSS A,NFPA,Quincy,MA,1988,PP BS!1438 orbs BS 476-4:1970, "Fire tests on building and - structures". Part 4: Non- combustibility test for Medical Devices Direc:tive (92/42/EEC). 8. BS 476-6:1989, ''Fire tests on building and structures". Method of test for fire propagation for Furniture & Furnishings products. (Fire)(Wety) Reguladons BS 476-7:1997, ''Fire tests on building and furniture & Furoiabinga structures". Method of test to determine the (Fire)( alety) Regulations1988 classification of the surfacespread of flame of products. 10. BS :1982, "Fire tests on building and structures".method for assessing the heat emission from EN9239 building. EN BS EN :2007+A1:2009, ''Fire classification of construction products and building elements". Classification using test data from reaction to fire tests. 12. BS EN ISO 1182: 2010, ''Reaction to fire tests for products".non-combustibility test COLOURAGE 0 JULY2016

5 PEER REVIEWED 13. BS EN ISO 1716:, ''Reaction to fire tests for products- Determination of the heat of the gross heat of combustion"(calorific value). 14. BS EN 13823:2010, ''Reaction to fire tests for building products". Building products excluding floorings exposed to the thermal attack by a single burningitem. 15. BS EN ISO :2010, "Reaction to fire tests. Ignitability of products subjected to direct impingement of flame". Single-flame source test. 16. BS EN 13238:2010, ''Reaction to fire tests for building products". Conditioning procedures and general rules for sdection of substrates. 17. Society of testing &, Proposed for room fire test of wall and ceiling and assemblies, Part Annual Book of ASTM Standards.ASTM,Philaddphia,PA,1982, pp Society of testing &, Proposed for heat and visible rdease rates for and FLAME RETARDANCY products using an oxygen consumption calorimeter, E ASTM Standards. ASTM, Philaddphia, PA,1990,pp Society of testing &, Standard test for heat and visible smoke release rates for and products.1987 Annual Book of Standards,, E , Section 4,Vol ASTM, Philaddphia, PA,1987,pp US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Improved Flammability s for used in the interiors of transportation category airplane cabins. Federal Register,Vol.51, No.139,21July 1986,pp BrownJ. E., Braun, E. & Twilley, W. H., Cone calorimeter evaluation of flammability of composite. NBSIR , US Department of Commerce,Washington,DC,1988,pp.1-61 One Stop Shopping for all type of Optical Whiteners Optical Whitening agents, for all types of Textile substrates (Cotton, Wool, Silk, Nylon, Viscose, Acrylic, Polyester and blended etc), Low, Medium, High Affinity OBAs. (Both Tinted & Untinted),for Continuous & Batchwise applications. Optical Whitening Agents for Detergent & Paper and White Ink industries also available. OBA for mixing with Titanium Di Oxide and Acrylic Binder to enhance brightness 1 whiteness of White Film. High temp stable OBA for Plastics (like LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PP, ABS, SAN, PVC, Nylon, Polyester, EVA etc) also available. We also make OBAs to suit any type of special requirements also. We solicit distributorship enquiries for OBAs, from your region. M/s Utpan lmpex. B-101, Heritage Plaza, Nityanand Nagar, Teli Galli Cross Lane, Andheri (E) Mumbai , INDIA Tel : I & 06 Fax : I Mobile : OR utpan11@yahoo.in, utpan@vsnl.com utpanimpex11@gmail.com Website : COLOURAGE ojuiy 2016 o46

Global flammability standards.

Global flammability standards. A Camira Technical Paper A resource examining flame retardancy testing of contract textiles and factors affecting flammability performance. Flammability Technical Paper Flammability