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Quantitatively evaluating the effects of flash fire exposure on the mechanical performance of thermal protective clothing

Meng Deng (College of Fashion and Design, Donghua University, Shanghai, China) (Key Laboratory of Clothing Design and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, China)
Miao Tian (College of Fashion and Design, Donghua University, Shanghai, China) (Tongji University, Shanghai, China) (Key Laboratory of Clothing Design and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, China)
Yunyi Wang (College of Fashion and Design, Donghua University, Shanghai, China) (Tongji University, Shanghai, China) (Key Laboratory of Clothing Design and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, China)
Min Wang (College of Fashion and Design, Donghua University, Shanghai, China) (Tongji University, Shanghai, China) (Key Laboratory of Clothing Design and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, China)

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology

ISSN: 0955-6222

Article publication date: 15 January 2020

Issue publication date: 18 May 2020

215

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of flash fire exposure on the mechanical properties of single-layer thermal protective clothing.

Design/methodology/approach

The full-scale flame manikin tests were performed to simulate flash fire exposure. Two typical fire-resistant fabrics were investigated. The manikin was divided into seven body parts and the specimens meeting the requirements of tensile and tear strength standards were sampled. Fabric thickness, mass per unit area, tensile strength and tear strength were measured and analyzed.

Findings

The results revealed the significant influence of heat flux on both of tensile and tear strength. However, the regression analysis indicated the low R2 of the liner models. When the tensile and tear strength retention were reorganized based on the body parts, both of the multiple linear regression models for tensile and tear strength showed higher R2 than the one-variable linear regressions. Furthermore, the R2 of the multiple linear regression model for tear strength retention was remarkably higher than that of the tensile strength.

Practical implications

The findings suggested that greater attention should be paid to the local part of human body and more factors such as the air gap should be considered in the future thermal aging of firefighters’ clothing studies.

Originality/value

The outcomes provided useful information to evaluate the mechanical properties of thermal protective clothing and predict its service life.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 17ZR1400500), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2232018G-08/2232017D-24), Chenguang Program supported by Shanghai Education Development Foundation and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (Grant No.18CG76), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and Graduate Student Innovation Fund of Donghua University (Grant No. CUSF-DH-D-2019099) and Shanghai Summit Discipline in Design. The authors would also like to thank Mr Shipeng Song for helping conduct the fabric tests.

Citation

Deng, M., Tian, M., Wang, Y. and Wang, M. (2020), "Quantitatively evaluating the effects of flash fire exposure on the mechanical performance of thermal protective clothing", International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 412-429. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-06-2019-0080

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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