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Search Publications by: William M. Pitts (Assoc)

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Displaying 1 - 25 of 129

Assessing the Predictive Capability for Real-Scale Residential Upholstered Furniture Mock-Up Fires using Cone Calorimeter Measurements. Part 1: Real-Scale Experiments

February 10, 2020
Author(s)
William M. Pitts, Martin Werrel, Marco G. Fernandez, Mary A. Long, Evan A. Eisenberg, James J. Filliben, Cory D. Runyon
This is the first of three reports describing a study designed to assess the feasibility of utilizing small-scale measurements in a cone calorimeter as inputs for predicting the burning behavior of real-scale residential upholstered furniture (RUF). Here

Assessing Fire-blocking Effectiveness of Barrier Fabrics in the Cone Calorimeter

April 29, 2019
Author(s)
Shonali Nazare, William M. Pitts, Mauro Zammarano, John R. Shields, Elizabeth Knowlton, Benito De Leon
Cone calorimetric experiments have been conducted on bare flexible polyurethane foam (FPUF) samples as well as FPUF covered with a variety of fire-blocking barrier fabrics (BFs) in order to characterize and rank BF effectiveness for improving the

Results of barrier fabrics tested in an inverted configuration

August 5, 2015
Author(s)
Rick D. Davis, Shonali Nazare, Szabolcs Matko, William M. Pitts, Mauro Zammarano
The document will be used to facilitate discussions between California Bureau of Electronics and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings, and Thermal Insulation (CBEARHFTI) and us (Fire Research Division (FRD) at the National Institute of Standards and

Evaluating smoldering behavior of fire-blocking barrier fabrics

January 29, 2015
Author(s)
Shonali Nazare, William M. Pitts, Szabolcs Matko, Rick D. Davis
This study reports on the smoldering propensity of commercially available barrier fabrics (BFs) in a small-scale mock-up configuration. Most BFs are smolder resistant when tested alone over a standard flexible polyurethane foam (FPUF). However, when

Evaluating Smoldering Behavior of Fire-Blocking Barrier Fabrics

January 29, 2015
Author(s)
Shonali Nazare, William M. Pitts, Szabolcs Matko, Rick D. Davis
This study reports on the smoldering propensity of commercially available barrier fabrics (BFs) in a small-scale upholstered seating mock-up configuration. Most commercially available BFs are smolder resistant when tested alone over a standard flexible

Response to Comments on the National Institute of Standards and Technology Investigation of the 2001 World Trade Center Fires

April 15, 2014
Author(s)
Richard G. Gann, Anthony P. Hamins, Therese P. McAllister, Kevin B. McGrattan, William M. Pitts, Kuldeep R. Prasad
The editor of a special issue of Fire Technology invited the NIST authors to address the NIST Investigation of the WTC disaster and associated practice and research progress in the 10 years since then. The three published papers are a summary of the

Evaluating Fire Blocking Performance of Barrier Fabrics

October 15, 2013
Author(s)
Shonali Nazare, William M. Pitts, Shaun M. Flynn, John R. Shields, Rick D. Davis
The purpose of fire blocking barrier materials is to reduce the flammability of soft furnishings ( mattresses and upholstered furniture) by preventing or delaying direct flame impingement from open flames and/or heat transfer from smoldering ignition

Measurements of effective diffusion coefficients of helium and hydrogen through gypsum

July 3, 2013
Author(s)
Jiann C. Yang, William M. Pitts, Marco G. Fernandez, Kuldeep R. Prasad
An experimental apparatus, which was based on the ¿-scale garage previously used for studying helium release and dispersion in our laboratory, was used to obtain effective diffusion coefficients of helium and hydrogen (released as forming gas for safety

Guidelines for Evaluating Fire Blocking Barrier Fabrics

April 18, 2013
Author(s)
Shonali Nazare, William M. Pitts, Shaun M. Flynn, Rick D. Davis, John R. Shields
This document provides guidelines to quantify fire performance properties of fire blocking barrier materials used in soft furnishings. In an attempt to enable a priori selection of fire barrier materials such that the final upholstered product complies

Reconstruction of the Thermal Environment in the Tall World Trade Center Buildings

January 11, 2013
Author(s)
Richard G. Gann, Anthony P. Hamins, Kevin B. McGrattan, Thomas J. Ohlemiller, Kuldeep R. Prasad, William M. Pitts, Harold E. Nelson
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted an extensive investigation of the collapse of the three tall World Trade Center (WTC) buildings. This paper describes the reconstruction of the fires, the thermal environment they created

Helium Dispersion in an Attached Single-Car Residential Garage with and Without Vehicle

October 2, 2012
Author(s)
William M. Pitts, Jiann C. Yang, Marco G. Fernandez, Kuldeep R. Prasad
The dispersion and loss of helium inside a single-car residential garage attached to a single-family house was experimentally characterized by recording time-resolved helium concentrations at multiple locations in the garage and at a single location in the

MEASUREMENTS OF EFFECTIVE DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT OF HELIUM AND HYDROGEN THROUGH GYPSUM

September 14, 2011
Author(s)
Jiann Yang, William M. Pitts, Marco Fernandez, Kuldeep Prasad
An experimental apparatus, which was based on the ¿-scale garage previously used for studying helium release and dispersion in our laboratory, was used to obtain effective diffusion coefficients of helium and hydrogen (released as forming gas for safety