Burning Behaviour of Upholstered Chair: Part1

Abstract

The burning tests of several wood cribs and several modern chairs with soft foam upholstery were carried out in a room. The mass burning rate, gas temperatures inside and outside the plume, smoke density, radiant heat flux, etc. were measured. The burning behaviour of the wood crib is very smooth whereas that of the modern upholstered chairs is not simple and depends on many factors. However, according to the experiments conducted in this study, it seems reasonable to assume that the mass burning rate after the peak burning rate is proportional to residual weight, so the mass burning rate, m´, for this burning period can be estimated with the equation, m´= rAw₀exp(-A(t-Tp)). The three parameters, Tp, r, and A, in this formula are determined on the basis of ranked burning rate. In the case of chairs, grouping the type of chair according to ranked burning rate allows one to determine these parameters for each group.