Abstract
The critical storage problem for
a self-heating combustible material exposed to
an external radiative heat source is investigated. The reaction
kinetics are defined in terms of a characteristic temperature
and an activation energy, linking small-scale experimental
techniques to medium-scale flammability tests. The model
is non-dimensionalised in such a way that material properties
of fundamental interest are retained as distinct continuation
parameters.
E. Balakrishnan, M.I. Nelson, and G.C. Wake. Radiative Ignition of Combustible Materials I. Polymeric Materials Undergoing Non-Flaming Thermal Degradation - The Critical Storage Problem. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 30(11-12):177-195, December 1999.
Abstract
We present a nonlinear dynamical systems model developed to gain an
insight into the flammability of polymeric materials.
Regimes of particular interest from
the viewpoint of fire-retardancy are identified
and exhibited in steady-state diagrams. The variation in
parameter space of these regions as a function of the emissivity of
the flame is investigated.
M.I. Nelson and J. Brindley. Polymer Combustion: Effects of Flame Emissivity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series A, 357:3655-3673, December 1999.