Flame Spread Mechanism through Analysis of Fire Behavior of Bed Mattress by the ISO 12949 Test

Abstract

This paper aims to explain and analyze the test results of the fire behavior of real-size bed mattress products when subjected to an open flame burner system with a total heat supply of 27 kW according to the ISO 12949 method. These results were analyzed in terms of the heat release rate, flame height, temperature, and flame-spread rate using an equation. A normal bed mattress without any fire retardant treatment has a peak heat release rate (HRR) of more than 3 MW before 300 s. After ignition, only a few minutes are allowable for the evacuation of the occupants, making it important to prevent the ignition of the bed mattress or to adopt a retardant bed mattress. The flame heights measured by analyzing a video showed good agreement with the mean flame height estimated from the dimensionless HRR calculated using the burning area in an experiment with a non-flame retardant bed mattress. Finally, the mean flame-spread rate interpolated from the measured temperature rising data at several points on the bed mattress in an experiment with a non-flame retardant bed mattress was consistent with the proposed calculation model.