Improved Fire- and Smoke-Resistant Materials for Commercial Aircraft Interiors A Proceedings (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 3. Heat Exposure and Burning Behavior of Cabin Materials . . .
Chapter 3. Heat Exposure and Burning Behavior of Cabin Materials . . .
Pages 25-36
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From page 25... ...
Emphasis is on the heating conditions experienced by the fuselage skin and cabin materials near an opening; the effect of wind and door openings on heat flux and cabin hazard development arising from the fuel fire; the important cabin phenomena related to survival, such as stratification of fire hazards and flashover; and hazard-time profiles and materials fire involvement. BACKGROUND Aircraft fire safety involves both in-flight and post-crash fire considerations.
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From page 26... ...
However, during the period of greatest intensification of the firewhirl, the heat flux attained peals values of IS Btu/ft2 s. The flame plume temperature measurements closely followed the trends exhibited by the heat flux.
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From page 27... ...
For external fuel fires, the heat flux measured at the symmetry plane and at the floor was 1.8 Btu/ft2.s and 2.5 Btu/ft2 s, respectively. This study also developed the equations for predicting the internal heat flux.
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From page 28... ...
/ / Id/ ~.~, ~ J: Btu/ft - ·ec:_ _ _ _ __V: / In FUEL PAN 1 ~"~/ ~ FIGURE 3 Theoretical radiative heat-flux profiles through a fuselage opening. Effects of Wind on Cabin Heating H ~////////////////' A series of full-scale fire tests essentially confirmed the modeling experiments discussed above (Brown, 1979)
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From page 29... ...
and all doors open. The fuelfire flames appeared to periodically enter and withdraw from the cabin, almost doubling the symmetry plane heat flux dunng peak heating conditions yet returning to the modeling value during minimal heating.
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From page 30... ...
test article, devoid of cabin matenals, to examine the hazards associated with the fuel fire alone (Hill et al., 1979; Hill and Sarkos, 1980~. An important finding was the pronounced stratification of heat, smoke, and toxic gases that is, the hot smoke from the fuel fire accumulated at the ceiling.
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From page 31... ...
Characteristics of Burning Cabin Materials 500 600 700 The FAA has conducted numerous full-scale fire tests on cabin materials subjected to the previously discussed post-crash fire scenario, that is, an external fuel fire adjacent to a fuselage opening (Sarkos et al., 1982; Sarkos and Hill, 1982, 1985, 1989; Hill et al., 1984, 1985~. The purpose of those Bests was to determine survivability gains from improved materials and to develop improved fire-test criteria.
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From page 32... ...
Cabin flashover is clearly the critical factor affecting occupant survivability during a postcrash fire that is dominated by burning cabin materials (as opposed to a post-crash fire in which survival is governed by the fuel-fire hazards)
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From page 33... ...
Aircraft ceiling panels, stowage bins, sidewalls, and carpeting were installed throughout the furnished cabin length, as well. As in previous experiments, survivability was driven by cabin flashover and extreme fire-hazard gradients were documented.
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From page 34... ...
The trailing edge of the temperature profile shows the fire selfex~cinguished and the cabin cooled down. Oxygen concentration measurements indicated that the fire became oxygen-starved; oxygen concentration readings at the seat top level decreased to less than 5 percent throughout the test article.
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From page 35... ...
Full-scale fire tests have demonstrated that both material fire performance advances seat cushion fire-blocHng layers and low-heat-release panels improve passenger survivability by extending the time of cabin flashover (Sarkos and Hill, 1982; Hill et al., 19851. Future development of advanced fireresistant materials should aim to further delay or possibly eliminate the occurrence of flashover.
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From page 36... ...
FAA final report DOT/FAA/CT-83/43. Atlantic City, New Jersey: Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center.
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