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Modeling Thermal Protection Outfits for Fire Exposures

A numerical model has been developed that successfully predicts heat transfer through thermally protective clothing materials and garments exposed to intense heat. The model considers the effect of fire exposure to the thermophysical properties of materials as well as the air layers between the clothing material and skin surface. These experiments involved characterizing the flash fire surrounding the manikin by measuring the temperature of the flame above each thermal sensor in the manikin surface. An estimation method is used to calculate the heat transfer coefficient for each thermal sensor in a 4 second exposure to an average heat flux of 2.00cal/cm2sec. A parameter estimation method was used to estimate fabrics dynamic thermophysical properties. The skin-clothe air gap distribution of different garments was determined using three-dimensional body scanning technology. Multi-layer skin heat transfer and a burn prediction models are used to predict second and third degree burns. The integrated generalized model developed will validated using the "Pyroman" Thermal Protective Clothing Analysis System with Kevlar/PBI® and Nomex®?A coverall garments. A parametric study conducted using this numerical model indicated the influencing parameters on garment thermal protective performance in terms of burn damage subjected to 4 second flash fire exposure. The importance of these parameters is analyzed and distinguished. These parameters includes fabric thermophysical properties, Pyroman® chamber generated flash fire characterizes, garment shrinkage and fit factors, as well as garment initial and test ambient temperature. Different skin models are also investigated using this model.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-10012002-131129
Date10 October 2002
CreatorsSong, Guowen
ContributorsRoger L. Barker
PublisherNCSU
Source SetsNorth Carolina State University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-10012002-131129/
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