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Fire testing of upholstered furniture and bedding
Author(s) -
Paul K. T.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
fire and materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-1018
pISSN - 0308-0501
DOI - 10.1002/fam.810040208
Subject(s) - ignition system , smoke , waste management , environmental science , forensic engineering , hazardous waste , hazard , engineering , process engineering , chemistry , organic chemistry , aerospace engineering
Considerable concern has been expressed about the increasing number and changing pattern of fires and the fact that modern upholstered furniture is relatively easy to ignite and, once ignited, burns rapidly to produce large quantities of smoke and toxic gas. This led to a number of major research programmes and to the evolution of a number of test procedures in the UK. The first major test procedure was published in 1976 by the BPF in conjunction with RAPRA, BRMA and FIRA. An important aspect of this approach was the linking of ignition and rate of initial burning data with the application of the product and the environmental hazard. It was evolved within a short period of time to proved furniture designers and specifies with a means of avoiding products of high risk. The DOE/PSA are using a comprehensive series of Fire Retardant Specifications to control and specify their upholstered furniture and bedding. Specifications have been developed which enable individual components and sub‐assemblies as well as the final product to be characterized in terms of ignitability and burning characteristics, i.e. temperatures, smoke, and carbon monoxide production. BS DD58 and BS 5852 Part1, ignitability tests for upholstered seating are essentially a combination of BPR and DOE/PSA test procedures. Cigarettes, gas flames and wooden cribs are used for the ignition sources and are positioned on a composite seat/back test rig.