Summary
Over the last decade growing concern has been voiced about the fire hazards of cellular polymers used in building and transport applications. Some of this concern is justified as illustrated by recent fires and experimental simulations where rapid fire development has occurred with potential for death or injury from the spread of combustion products within very short periods of time.
Many technical difficulties have arisen in the use of synthetic foams. Their introduction has presented problems since the test methods used traditionally to assess performance have been somewhat inadequate to cope effectively with the new properties of polymers and polymer composites.
Major progress is being made in understanding the fire behaviour of cellular polymers. This involves studies of ignitability, flame spread, heat release, and the production of smoke and toxic gases. In parallel to this, important technical advances have been made by industry in the development of new formulations of cellular materials and composites with improved fire behaviour.
It is now time to bring together the current knowledge of all aspects of cellular polymers in fire so that further applications of these materials can continue safely allowing full use of their potential for improving the comfort and efficiency of our lives.
This paper examines the basic problems which have occurred during the use of cellular polymers with regard to fire. Recent fire scenarios which have attracted attention to cellular materials and the way the hazard is being addressed and mitigated are discussed. To aid this the paper also examines the basic mechanisms of burning of the polymers and the associated hazard to life.
Finally it should be emphasized that the much of this paper is directed, intentionally, to understanding circumstances where untoward events may occur to place life in jeopardy. This approach is necessary for the elimination of potentially hazardous situations and to enable the continuing use of cellular polymers in a safe way.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Report of the Technical Sub-Committee on the Fire Risks of New Materials, Central Fire Brigades’ Advisory Council for England, Wales and for Scotland, Joint Fire Prevention Committee, Home Office, Fire Department, 1978.
Wilde, D.G., Combustion of polyurethane foam in a tunnel ventilated at an air speed of 5 metres per second, J. Fire & Flamm., 11 (1980) 263–74.
United Kingdom Fire Statistics 1982, Home Office, London, 1983.
Woolley, W.D., Ames, S.A., Pitt, A.I. and Murreil, J.V., Fire behaviour of beds and bedding materials, Fire & Materials, 1 (1976) 63–73.
Woolley, W.D., Ames, S.A., Pitt, A.I. and Buckland, K., The ignition and burning characteristics of fabric covered foam, J. Fire Safety, 2 (1) (1979) 39–59.
Ingham, P.E. and Edwards, R.J., The Flammability of Bedding Materials, Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand Communication C88, 1984.
Silcock, A., Robinson, D. and Savage, N.P., Fires in Dwellings — An Investigation of Actual Fires, Building Research Establishment Current Paper CP 80/78, Borehamwood, 1978.
Woolley, W.D., Ames, S.A. and Smith, A., The ‘Manchester Woolworths’ store fire, May 1979. Characteristics of the furniture, J. Fire Safety, 3 (1980/81) 55–65.
Woolley, W.D. et al, The Stardust Disco fire Dublin 1981: studies of combustion products during simulation experiments, J. Fire Safety, 7 (1984) 267–83.
Woolley, W.D. et al., Fire in the Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast, January 1984. Studies of the burning characteristics of gymnastics materials. To be published.
Anon., The French dance hall tragedy, Fire International, 3 (31) (1971) 44–7.
Anon., White grotto becomes black tomb, Fire Journal (May 1971) 91–3.
The Upholstered Furniture (Safety) Regulations 1980 SI 1980/725 and The Upholstered Furniture (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 1983, SI 1983/519, HMSO, London.
BSI British Standard 5852 Part 1; 1979 Fire Tests for Furniture: Methods of Test for the Ignitability by Smokers’als of Upholstered Composites for Seating; Part 2: 1982 Methods of Test for the Ignitability of Upholstered Composites for Seating by Flaming Sources, BSI, London.
Anon., A hair’s-breadth from tragedy but lessons have been learned, Fire (July 1984) 15.
Thomas, P.H., The Importance of Insulation in Fire Growth, BRE Information Paper IP, Borehamwood, 1979.
Kennedy, R.H., Riley, K.W.P. and Rogers, S.P., A Study of the Operation and Effectiveness of Fire Detectors Installed in the Bedrooms and Corridors of Residential Institutions, Building Research Establishment Current Paper CP 26/78, Borehamwood, 1978.
Woolley, W.D. and Fardell, P.J., Basic aspects of combustion toxicology, J. Fire Safety, 5 (1982) 29–48.
Harland, W.A. et al., Fire deaths in the Glasgow area, Med. Sci Law, 21 (3) (1981) 175–83; 21 (4) (1981) 288–94; 22 (1) (1982) 35–40.
Harland, W.A. et al., Fire deaths in the United Kingdom 1976–82, Paper presented at INTERFLAM ’82, University of Surrey, March 1982.
Ames, S.A. and Fardell, P.J., A Study of the Flammability of Solids and their Smoke Production in Fires in a Small Compartment, Building Research Establishment Current Paper CP 3/80, Borehamwood, 1980.
Woolley, W.D., Raftery, M.M., Ames, SA. and Murrell, JV., Smoke release from wall linings in full-scale compartment fires, J. Fire Safety, 2 (1979/80) 61–72.
Building Research Establishment, BRENews (Spring 1981) 12, Garston, Herts.
Rowen, J.W. and Lyons, J.W., The importance of externally imposed heat flux on the burning behaviour of materials, J. Cell Plast. (January/February 1978)25-31.
BSI British Standard 6336. British Standard Guide to the Development and Preservation of Fire Tests and their Use in Hazard Assessment, BSI, London, 1982.
Conference on Smoke and Burning Plastics, Queen Mary College Industrial Research Ltd, January 1982, Royal Garden Hotel, London.
Conference on Flame Retardants ’83, Plastics and Rubber Institute UK, November 1983, Tara Hotel, London.
Nadeau, H.G., Darr, W. and Hofrichter, C., A comparison and evaluation of the test results obtained on exposed and coated rigid urethane foam when subjected to large-scale corner and compartment corner testing, J. Cell Plast. (March/April 1977 ) 103–10.
Fishbein, J., Hunter, G., Hurd, R. and Smith, A., Cellular Polymers, 2 (1983) 1–29.
Cox, G. and Kumar, S., Computer Modelling of Fire, Building Research Establishment, Information Paper IP 2/83, Borehamwood, 1983.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Crown copyright
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Woolley, W.D. (1985). Are Foams a Fire Hazard?. In: Buist, J.M., Grayson, S.J., Woolley, W.D. (eds) Fire and Cellular Polymers. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3443-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3443-6_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8041-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-3443-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive