A new approach to quantify the thermal shrinkage of fire protective clothing after flash fire exposure

Combustion characters such as afterflame, color fading, thermal shrinkage, carbonization, smoke production provide a comprehensive reflection of the garment performance as a whole. Based on the flame manikin testing system, six kinds of garments which can be divided into two groups (PSA clothing and aramid clothing) were used for combustion experiments, and the combustion characters were analyzed under the same exposure conditions. Results show that the after flame time of PSA clothing was longer than that of aramid clothing, showing poorer flame resistant performance. Large areas of color fading happened to most of the test samples. The average thermal shrinkage of the PSA clothing is greater than the aramid clothing with similar weight and weaving structure. Clothing with larger fabric gram weight and thickness tends to have smaller shrinkage degree. The carbonization degree of PSA clothing was more serious than that of aramid clothing. Smoke amount may relate to the dying and finfish of fabric.

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Thermal shrinkage of fabrics used for out layer of firefighter protective clothing under flash fire

Fire and Materials ◽

10.1002/fam.2260 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 39 (8) ◽

pp. 732-740 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jun Li ◽

Mengmeng Zhao ◽

Yuchen Xie ◽

Yunyi Wang

Keyword(s):

Protective Clothing ◽

Thermal Shrinkage ◽

Firefighter Protective Clothing ◽

Flash Fire

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Quantitatively evaluating the effects of flash fire exposure on the mechanical performance of thermal protective clothing

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology ◽

10.1108/ijcst-06-2019-0080 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 412-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Meng Deng ◽

Miao Tian ◽

Yunyi Wang ◽

Min Wang

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Tensile Strength ◽

Protective Clothing ◽

Body Parts ◽

Fire Exposure ◽

Tear Strength ◽

Content Type ◽

Flash Fire ◽

Thermal Protective Clothing ◽

Strength Retention

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of flash fire exposure on the mechanical properties of single-layer thermal protective clothing. Design/methodology/approach The full-scale flame manikin tests were performed to simulate flash fire exposure. Two typical fire-resistant fabrics were investigated. The manikin was divided into seven body parts and the specimens meeting the requirements of tensile and tear strength standards were sampled. Fabric thickness, mass per unit area, tensile strength and tear strength were measured and analyzed. Findings The results revealed the significant influence of heat flux on both of tensile and tear strength. However, the regression analysis indicated the low R2 of the liner models. When the tensile and tear strength retention were reorganized based on the body parts, both of the multiple linear regression models for tensile and tear strength showed higher R2 than the one-variable linear regressions. Furthermore, the R2 of the multiple linear regression model for tear strength retention was remarkably higher than that of the tensile strength. Practical implications The findings suggested that greater attention should be paid to the local part of human body and more factors such as the air gap should be considered in the future thermal aging of firefighters’ clothing studies. Originality/value The outcomes provided useful information to evaluate the mechanical properties of thermal protective clothing and predict its service life.

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