Investigating the Thermal-Protective Performance of Fire-Retardant Fabrics Considering Garment Aperture Structures Exposed to Flames.

Miao Tian,Yun Su,Jun Li,Xianghui Zhang,Qi Wang,Yiting Xiao

doi:10.3390/ma13163579

Abstract

The application of fire-retardant fabrics is essential for providing thermal protective function of the garments. Appropriate clothing design are beneficial for preventing the wearers from skin burn injuries and heat strains simultaneously. The intention of this work was to investigate the effects of clothing ventilation designs on its thermal protective performance by bench-scale tests. Four boundary conditions were designed to simulate the garment aperture structures on fabric level. Tests of thermal shrinkage, mass loss and time-to-second-degree-burns were performed with and without air gap under three heat-flux levels for two kinds of inherently fire-retardant fabrics. The impacts of fabric type, heat-flux level, air gap and boundary condition were analyzed. The presence of a 6.4-mm air gap could improve thermal protective performance of the fabrics, however, the garment openings would decrease this positive effects. More severe thermal aging found for spaced test configuration indicated the importance of balancing the service life and thermal protective performance of the clothing. The findings of this study implied that the characteristics of fabric type, air gap, boundary condition, and their effects on fabric thermal aging should be considered during clothing ventilation designs, to balance the thermal protection and comfort of the protective gear.

Highlights

Statistics from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) indicated that there were 58,250 estimated firefighter injuries occurred in the U.S in 2018 [1]
We mainly focused on the thermal protective performance of the fire-retardant fabrics considering the garment aperture design and discussed its different effects of direct contact and spaced test configurations
Considering the potential of adopting the ventilation designs to balance the protection and heat loss of the protective gear, four boundary conditions were designed in this study to simulate the garment aperture structures at sleeves, pants and lower hem

Summary

Introduction

Statistics from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) indicated that there were 58,250 estimated firefighter injuries occurred in the U.S in 2018 [1]. Thirty nine percent of the firefighters were injured at fireground operations, which was much higher than other types of duties [2]. As the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) [3], firefighters’ clothing provides protection for firefighters from injuries and fatalities caused by flame, radiant heat, hot surface contact, molten substances, hot liquids and steam during operations [4,5]. A variety of studies have indicated that the thermal protective performance of firefighters’ gear is complicatedly influenced by the factors of environment and garment. The type and intensity of heat source determined the heat-transfer modes on fabric surface. The combined effects of the moisture in the fabric and the heat source further influenced the heat and mass transfer within the clothing system [9,10].

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion