NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF POLYMER MATERIALS IN STANDARD FIRE TESTS: PYROLYSIS AND THE IMPACT OF RESIDUE FORMATION

Published

July 31, 2010

Author(s)

Florian Kempel, Bernhard Schartel, Anja Hofmann, Gregory T. Linteris, Richard E. Lyon, Richard N. Walters, Stanislav Stoliarov

Abstract

Two different numerical simulation tools, Fire Dynamic Simulator FDS and ThermaKin, are investigated with respect to their capability to predict the mass loss rate of polymer materials exposed to different fires. For validation, gasification apparatus and cone calorimeter tests were conducted. The main focus is on the influence of residue formation. Therefore, poly(butylene terephtalate) (PBT) and PBT reinforced with glass fibres (PBT-GF) were investigated and compared. PBT decomposes almost completely, while PBT-GF forms residue. The materials were characterized thoroughly in order to provide suitable input parameters. Additionally the boundary conditions at the sample surface were measured. With accurate input parameters, FDS and ThermaKin predicted the pyrolysis behaviour of PBT very well. Limitations were identified regarding the residue-forming PBT-GF. Nevertheless both numerical simulation tools demonstrated a high value regarding the assessment of parameters relative impacts and thus the evaluation of optimization routes in polymer and composite development.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the 2010 Interflam Conference

Conference Dates

July 5-7, 2010

Conference Location

Nottingham, UK

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

Polymer decomposition, Fire Retardants, pyrolysis modeling, material flammability.

Citation

Kempel, F. , Schartel, B. , Hofmann, A. , Linteris, G. , Lyon, R. , Walters, R. and Stoliarov, S. (2010), NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF POLYMER MATERIALS IN STANDARD FIRE TESTS: PYROLYSIS AND THE IMPACT OF RESIDUE FORMATION, Proceedings of the 2010 Interflam Conference, Nottingham, UK (Accessed October 15, 2025)