Abstract
This chapter discusses the thermal degradation of synthetic and natural polymers under flaming fire conditions, also known as “Material Flammability.” It describes the sequence of events in an uncontrolled compartment fire. A flaming fire in a compartment with adequate ventilation and no automatic or manual suppression consists of four stages: initiation, pre-flashover stage, flashover, and post-flashover stage. Material flammability includes characteristics that do not directly affect ignition and fire growth but that are pertinent to the fire hazard to humans, such as the generation of vision-impairing smoke and toxic products of combustion. The chapter describes the way combustion of liquid fuels takes place in the gas phase. It describes four mechanisms that contribute to the thermal decomposition of a polymer: random scission, cross-linking, elimination, and cyclization. The chapter provides a discussion of test procedures that are specified in fire safety codes and regulations. The emphasis is on building and fire prevention codes in the United States.
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