THERMAL SCIENCE
International Scientific Journal
INFLUENCE OF FIBERGLASS MESH ON FLAMMABILITY OF EPS USED AS INSULATION OF BUILDINGS
ABSTRACT
Different scale tests to explore the influence of fiberglass mesh on the fire behaviour of EPS (expanded polystyrene) have been conducted. Micro-scale Combustion Calorimeter (MCC) to measure the heat release rate per unit mass, heat release capacity and the total heat release of EPS and as well as the fiberglass for milligram specimen mass has been used. Cone colorimeter bench scale burning tests with the EPS specimens and EPS-fiberglass compound specimens have been carried out. The heat release rate per unit area, ignition times, and the derived minimum igniting heat fluxes were determined. Comparative burning tests on the fire spread tendency of EPS and EPS-fiberglass compound specimens have been carried out. It was established that the fiberglass mesh stabilizes the EPS fire as a wick fire due to the adherence of the melting polystyrene adheres to the fiberglass mesh and this causes an upwards fire spread.
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2016-04-05
PAPER REVISED: 2016-06-17
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2016-06-22
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2016-08-07
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR
2018, VOLUME
22, ISSUE
Issue 2, PAGES [1025 - 1036]
- ***, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China, "Design standard for energy efficiency of residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter area", JGJ 134-2001, 2001
- Peng L., Ni Z. P., Huang X., Review on the Fire Safety of Exterior Wall Claddings in High-rise Buildings in China, Procedia Eng. 62 (2013), pp. 663-670
- Doroudiani S., Omidian H., Environmental, health and safety concerns of decorative mouldings made of expanded polystyrene in buildings, Build. Environ. 45 (2010), pp. 647-654
- Bockhorn H., Hornung A., Hornung U., Gasification of polystyrene as initial step in incineration, fires, or smoldering of plastics. Symposium (International) on Combustion, 27 (1998), pp. 1343-1349
- Rossi M., Camino G., Luda M. P., Characterisation of smoke in expanded polystyrene combustion, Polym. Degrad. Stabil. 74 (2001), pp.507-512
- Stec A. A., Hull T. R., Assessment of the fire toxicity of building insulation materials, Energ. Buildings, 43 (2011), pp.498-506
- Wang S. P., Chen H .X., Liu N. A., Ignition of expandable polystyrene foam by a hot particle: An experimental and numerical study, J. Hazard. Mater. 283 (2015), pp.536-543
- Wang S.P., Huang X. Y., Chen H. X., Liu N. A., Rein G., Ignition of low-density expandable polystyrene foam by a hot particle, Combust. Flame 162 (2015), pp.4112-4118
- Jiang L., Xiao H. H., An W. G., Zhou Y., Sun J. H., Correlation study between flammability and the width of organic thermal insulation materials for building exterior walls, Energ. Buildings. 82 (2014), pp.243-249
- Galgano A., Blasi C. D., Branca C., Milella E.. Thermal response to fire of a fiber-reinforced sandwich panel: Model formulation, selection of intrinsic properties and experimental validation. Polym. Degrad. Stabil. 94 (2009), pp.1267-1280
- Mamourian M., Esfahani J. A., Ayani M. B., Experimental and scale up study of the flame spread over the PMMA sheets, Therm Sci, 13(2009),1, pp.79-88
- Ayani M. B., Esfahani J. A., M. Sousa A. C., The effect of surface regression on the downward flame spread over a solid fuel in a quiescent ambient, Therm Sci, 11 (2007), 5, pp. 67-86
- Mamourian M., Esfahani J. A., Ayani M. B., Experimental Investigation of the Effect of the Solid Fuel Dimensions on the Downward Flame Spread, Kuwait J Sci Eng, 36, (2009), 12, pp. 183-200
- Kashani A., Esfahani J. A., Interactive effect of oxygen diffusion and volatiles advection on transient thermal degradation of poly methyl methacrylate, Heat Mass Transfer, 44 (2008),5, pp. 641-650
- Xu Q., Griffin G. J., Burch I., Jiang Y., Preston C., Bicknel A. D., Bradbury G. P., White N., Predicting the time to flashover for GRP panels based on cone calorimeter test results, J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 91 (2008), pp.759-762
- Xu Q., Griffin G. J., Evaluate fire behavior GRP panel, J. Reinf. Plast. Comp. 30 (2011) 142-151
- Kandola B. K., Luangtriratana P., Thermo-physical performance of organoclay coatings deposited on the surfaces of glass fibre-reinforced epoxy composites using an atmospheric pressure plasma or a resin binder, Appl. Clay Sci. 99 (2014), pp. 62-71
- Xu Q., Jin C., Jiang Y.. Analysis of the relationship between MCC and thermal analysis results in evaluating flammability of EPS foam, J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 118(2014), pp. 687-693
- Standard Test Method for Determining Flammability Characteristics of Plastics and Other Solid Materials Using Microscale Combustion Calorimetry, ASTM D7309-13, 2013
- ***, Govmark Micro-scale Combustion Calorimeter (MCC2), the Govmark Organization, Inc.
- ***, ISO 5660-1:2002 Reaction-to-fire tests heat release, smoke production and mass loss rate-part 1: heat release rate (cone calorimeter method)
- Xu Q., Jin C., Griffin G. J., Jiang Y., Fire Safety Evaluation of Expanded Polystyrene Foam by Multi-scale Methods. J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 115 (2014), pp.1651-1660
- ***, UL 94, the Standard for Safety of Flammability of Plastic Materials for Parts in Devices and Appliances testing. UL. Retrieved 17 Oct. 2013.
- Janssens M. L., Improved method of analysis for the LIFT apparatus, Part I: ignition. In Proc. 2nd Fire and Materials Conf. Interscience Communications, London, England, (1993), pp.37-46.
- ***, The SFPE Hand book of Fire Protection Engineering, 3rd ed., ISBN: 087765-451-4.
- Liu L., Liu Y. S., Han Y., Liu Y., Wang Q., Interfacial Charring Method to Overcome the Wicking Action in Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene Composite, Compos. Sci. Technol. 121 (2015), pp. 9-15.
