An Experimental Study on Burning of Vertical Cloth Panels

Abstract

In many countries, tents are used for public gatherings. In India they are known as shamiana and are custom-made and assembled and disassembled on site in a short time. The structure consists of a metal or wood frame that is covered by fabric panels to produce a closed, open or semi-open structure. Fires in these structures are frequent and spread rapidly resulting in considerable loss of life. In this study, vertical panels of fabrics used in typical shamiana construction were tested for burning characteristics with a nichrome wire ignition as ignition source placed at two locations, viz., bottom center or top center. The process was video taped; individual images were analyzed for flame and char parameters. Bottom ignition of cotton panel results in rapid vertical spread whereas with top ignition the burning process is much slower with vertical burning velocities being 9.0 and 0.2 cm/s, respectively; the horizontal burning velocities were similar at 1.1 cm/s for both. With bottom ignition, polyester burning results in a regular fall of burning globules to the ground and the spread rate is 2.0 cm/s and 1.0 cm/s in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. With top ignition, the burning rate is 1.6 cm/s in vertical direction and 1.8 cm/s in horizontal direction. With bottom ignition, the vertical and horizontal flame accelerations are 0.4 and 0.3 cm/s2, respectively. For polyester, the vertical accelerations are much smaller (0.05 cm/s2) during the initial part followed by a very small deceleration.