In order to assure prescribed levels of fire safety in civil aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that a variety of fire test methods be used to demonstrate that aircraft materials meet specified performance criteria when exposed to heat or flame. In principle, the specific test method required serves as a surrogate for the fire environment to which a given material could potentially be exposed, and the test criteria relate to the performance of the material in this fire environment.

While a number of fire test requirements are of recent vintage, others have origins in research and development efforts completed many years ago. Because of a span of time during which the various fire test requirements were developed, there' is an inevitable wide variation in the accessibility of primary technical documents, in currency of test equipment details, and in style and clarity of technical content.

The purpose of the Aircraft Material Fire Test Handbook is to describe all FAA-required fire test methods for aircraft materials in a consistent and detailed format. The handbook provides information to enable the user to assemble and properly use the test methods. Moreover, to broaden the utility of the handbook, the appendices contain the following information: FAA fire safety regulations, FAA approval process, aircraft materials, regulatory methodology used by other countries, aircraft industry internal test methods and guidelines, laboratories actively using fire test methods, and commercial manufacturers of fire test equipment.

Thor I. Eklund

Two concepts for improved aircraft in-flight smoke evacuation were analyzed and tested. The concept definition and evaluation efforts involved an additional ventilation outflow valve on the aircraft underside along with either increased ventilation air volume from the engine compressors or a supplemental ram air supply. Subsequent test aircraft modification involved addition of a pressure controlling outflow valve on the top of the fuselage and upgraded engine bleed air volume flow for cabin air-conditioning. Ground and flight tests were conducted on a test B757 with buoyant and nonbuoyant theatrical smoke generated continuously in various places in the passenger cabin. Buoyant smoke could be localized only when generated in the vicinity of the upper lobe outflow valve. Nonbuoyant smoke could be localized only when generated in the vicinity of an outflow valve, whether the valve was on the top or bottom of the fuselage. The buoyant smoke was formulated to have the same type flow behavior as a plume from the visible flames of a burning surface. The nonbuoyant smoke might be more representative of a smoldering material.

Thor I. Eklund

A buoyant artificial smoke generator was developed for airplane test applications. In the device, theatrical smoke is mixed with a mixture of helium and air. The total gas flow, the helium to air ratio, and the theatrical smoke particulate generation rate can be all varied by the device. A gas mixture of 50 percent each of helium and air has the buoyancy properties of air, alone, heated to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. The device was used in cabin smoke evacuation tests in a modified Boeing 757 aircraft. Generation of the buoyant smoke in an aircraft resulted in dramatically different behavior from that previously observed with nonbuoyant theatrical smoke. The buoyant smoke spread further through the aircraft in a manner that was not predicted by an analytical model on cabin smoke spread. Besides being used to assess airplane cabin smoke evacuation capability, the buoyant smoke generator has been used to evaluate smoke detector performance and optimal location in Air Force jet aircraft.

George B. Geyer, Joseph A. Wright, Dung Do, Lawrence Hampton

Fire extinguishing effectiveness of the general fire suppression concentrate identified as Pyrocap B-136 was determined by laboratory experiments and large scale fire tests. This agent demonstrated strong emulsifying properties toward Jet A, kerosene fuel; JP-4, kerosene and gasoline fuel blend; and avgas, aviation gasoline fuel. At 6 percent concentration, Pyrocap B-136 extinguished large Jet A fuel fires when applied at the rate of 0.052 gallon per minute per square foot. At 30 percent concentration, the agent was effective in extinguishing magnesium aircraft wheel fires at a low application rate.

Thomas L. Reynolds, Sr.

The purpose of this paper is describe a technical study, currently under contract with the FAA Technical Center, which will define two advanced inflight smoke/fire detection systems for commercial jet aircraft. The objective of this study is to identify the system criteria that will provide for accurate, timely and complete guidance to the flight crew for their use in responding to possible and/or actual smoke and fire events within the pressurized fuselage.