Results of a Preliminary Study of Ignitions in Flat vs. Crevice Configurations

Abstract

A newly designed crevice mockup support module was used in a study by seven labs to evaluate lab-to-lab and operator-to-operator variability on ignitions in the flat and crevice configurations. Two commercial upholstery fab rics and two experimental cigarettes were used in the study. The two cigarettes were tested in flat configurations with one fabric, and one cigarette was tested in the crevice configuration with the second fabric. Results from this preliminary study showed that lab-to-lab variability for the crevice configuration and for one of the flat configurations was not statistically significant. Operator-to-operator variability for the flat configurations in the seven labs was not statistically signifi cant. However, for the crevice configuration operator-to-operator variability was statistically significant for three of the seven labs. This study showed that using a newly designed mockup support system, crevice testing can be performed in many labs with low lab-to-lab variability. In this ini tial trial, operator-to-operator variability for the crevice configuration was lower than expected. It is anticipated that this variability can be reduced significantly with further operator training.