Estimating fire growth on composite materials in a corner configuration

Fin growth on the surface of a composite in a vertical corner configuration was chosen to represent a moderately severe test for materials to be used in infrastructure applications. An approximate model for predicting the extent of this fire growth is summarized here. It is based on a bench-scale characterization of the material properties and full-scale measurements of the heat flux pattern imposed by a varied ignition source. The model predictions for a vinyl ester/glass composite are compared with full-scale fire growth and heat release rate data for three sizes of igniter flame, yielding reasonable agreement.