POLYMER FLAMMABILITY

Richard E. Lyon
Airport and Aircraft Safety R&D Division
William J. Hughes Technical Center
Atlantic City International Airport
New Jersey 08405

The flammability of combustible solids such as polymers, polymer blends, and their composites (plastics) is a safety consideration when they are used in transportation, construction, and consumer electronics. The plastics currently used in passenger aircraft cabins are the least flammable that are commercially available and rarely cause accidents or fatalities by burning. However, the long-range goal of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is to completely eliminate burning cabin materials as a cause or consequence of aircraft accidents. Research began in 1995 at the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J., to develop the enabling technology for a fireproof cabin: ultra fire resistant materials. The presentation will discuss results from the Fire Resistant Materials research program including a molecular basis for flammability derived from the thermochemistry of flaming combustion, a new laboratory test that measures thermal-combustion properties of plastics, and the relationship of these to fire behavior and flame resistance of materials.