The Protective Characteristics of PBI and Nomex Coveralls in JP-4 Fuel Fires

Abstract

Air Force flight suits made from PBI and Nomex fabrics were exposed to JP-4 liquid fuel fires to evaluate the thermal protection qualities offered to flight personnel. The two fabrics were compared on the basis of flammability, mechanical, and comfort characteristics. Thermal protection provided by the two materials was based on the mean difference in percent body area damaged for sixty flight suits when exposed to a JP-4 fuel fire. PBI allowed twenty-one point five percent less damage when compared to Nomex. PBI fabric in addition to providing thermal protection, has been proven in a full scale wear test to be the most comfortable flight suit fabric tested by the Air Force Operational Commands.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1973
Accession Number
AD0911304

Entities

People

  • Jack H. Ross
  • Robert M. Stanton
  • Stanley Schulman

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Personnel
  • Birds
  • Data Analysis
  • Enthalpy
  • Fabrics
  • Fibers
  • Fire Extinguishers
  • Fires
  • Information Science
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Resistance
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Statistical Samples
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Facilities

Readers

  • Materials Science
  • Petroleum Engineering