Flame penetration and burn testing of fire blanket materials

Materials were evaluated in laboratory tests for a fire blocking blanket to protect stores of U.S. Army munitions from burning material and hot fragments. The objective of testing was to evaluate and rank materials' ability to resist the penetration of flame and heat and to limit flame spread. Materials in all tests were subjected to an oxyacetylene torch with temperatures in excess of 3000 degrees C. Inorganic fiber-based fabric, insulation and blankets evaluated in flame penetration tests were rated by their time to limit backside temperature rise to 100 degrees C above ambient and 500 degrees C for a given material areal mass. Carbon fiber fabric performed the best of the fabrics tested. Silica aerogel insulation was the top performing insulation material group. The blanket with carbon fiber sandwiching silica aerogel insulation performed best. Horizontal and vertical flame burn tests were conducted on several candidate blanket cover materials. Fabrics coated with polyvinyl chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene and silicone rubber coatings were all found to be immediately self-extinguishing when the flame was removed. Burn damage was confined locally to the heated zone beneath and around the lit torch tip's flame. All flames were immediately self-extinguishing beyond those regions, with zero flame-out times recorded. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.