Richard H. Fish

Research on the chemistry of ablation for protection of spacecraft during atmospheric entry has led to the development of a new class of fire-retardant materials; namely, lightweight plastic foams. The foams have been developed principally to protect aircraft structures and externally mounted fuel tanks from onboard fires in flight.

Fire-retardant foams have been made from urethane, isocyanurate, and polybenzimidazole. The density of the foams ranges from 2 to 30 lb/ft. Addition of randomly placed quartz fibers to the urethane and isocyanurate foams increases their density and improves the stability of the char formed on heating. For example, by adding fibers in a 10 percent concentration, the density of the urethane foam is tripled and its fire-protection, the density of the urethane foam is tripled and its fire protection capability is increased five-fold. The fire-protective capability of the isocynurate foam system is twice that of the urethane foam and four times that of commercial isocyanurate fire-retardant foam.

This paper describes the various fire-retardant materials and illustrates their performance when exposed to a fuel fire. Performance is compared wherever possible with presently available commercial developments. Although the materials were developed primarily for aircraft use, a discussion is given of other possible areas of appreciation.

S.R. Riccitello

It is known that nitro aniline compounds when heated in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid undergo an abrupt reaction to give voluminous amounts of black material and gases.

J.T. Nakos, W. Gill, N.R. Keltner

The measured thermal response of generic objects in engulfing pool fires is presented. The objects include cylinders and flat plates of various sizes and materials. A simple radiation/convection model of the heat transfer from the fire to the object is developed and discussed in light of the experimental data.

D.A. Kourtides

On-board fires in wide body jet aircraft represent a serious threat to life and have resulted in considerable economic losses to the airline and aircraft industry. Since there is considerable interest in the reduction of the flammability and smoking of polymeric materials used in aircraft interiors, it has been the objective of this study to characterize the thermochemic properties of some of these materials and to seek methods and approaches in the development and formulation of advanced polymers and composites which would offer improved fire resistance over the state-of-the-art materials and could eventually be utilized in the fabrication of aircraft interior panels.

D.A. Kourtides, W.J. Gilwee

The purpose of this study was to access the relative thermal stability, flammability, and other related thermo chemical properties of some typical state-of-the-art and candidate experimental thermostat and thermoplastic materials and to assess their potential use as face sheet for panels, moldings, thermoformed parts, and decorative films in aircraft interiors.