Prediction of Flammability Limit of Flat Materials in Microgravity Environments

Abstract

Considering the recent increasing human activities in space development, the reduction of fire risk in a microgravity environment and performing convenient flammability tests for materials used in space will become important research issues. However, there is currently no reliable flammability test based on scientific background for space environments. In the FLARE project, it is one of the main objectives to derive a conversion equation which can predict the minimum limiting oxygen concentration (MLOC) of flat materials in microgravity from a ground-based flammability test, such as JIS K 7201. In the present article, a simplified model for predicting MLOC of a thin flat material with an opposed flow using ground-based flammability data is introduced.