Theoretical Calculation on the Piloted Ignition of PMMA

Abstract

This study presents the comparison of the experimental results and theoretical predictions of the piloted ignition of black PMMA. The model for theoretical calculations included heat, momentum, mass transfer equations and reaction kinetics both in the gas phase and the solid phase, to comprehensively describe the piloted ignition. The experimental samples were thick black PMMA pieces, with the ignition time and the critical surface temperatures at ignition measured using a cone heater under different external radiation heat fluxes. The predictions from the calculations showed good agreement with the experiment at high heat flux, but the deviation was distinct at low heat fluxes, especially for the critical surface temperatures. The fail of the prediction at low heat fluxes was regarded, by analysis, as the result of the neglecting of the decomposition energy term of PMMA in the energy balance equation.