Smoke Production of Nonmetallic Pipes.
Abstract
The smoke production of nonmetallic pipes was investigated using 'Test Method for Specific Optical Density of Smoke Generated by Solid Materials,' ASTM E 662. The pipe samples consisted of two epoxy resin glass reinforced pipes, two vinyl ester resin glass reinforced pipes, a PVC pipe, and a phenolic resin glass reinforced pipe. The use of flat test specimens of pipe material was deemed to be impractical due to the difficulty of obtaining specially made specimens and the probability of altering the resin to glass ratio. The tensioning of the filaments during manufacturing may result in a significant difference in the resin/fiberglass ratios at the pipe surface as compared to flat stock production. A Code of Practice was developed for preparing and mounting the pipe specimen to permit the use of curved surfaces in ASTM E 662. The pipe specimens were prepared by cutting pipes to provide a curved surface area equal to the area of a flat test specimen. The space behind the pipe specimen was left void to simulate a dry pipe. The Code of Practice permitted the specific optical density (Dm) to be determined for nonmetallic pipes. Dm ranged from 2 to 209 for nonflaming exposures and from 16 to 563 for flaming exposures. The phenolic pipe produced the least amount of smoke. The effect of orientation of test specimen in the sample holder was investigated using PVC and phenolic pipe. The two orientations were horizontally run pipes and vertically run pipes. For PVC pipe in the flaming exposure, the Dm was higher when the pipe was vertically run than when horizontally wn. For PVC pipe in the nonflaming exposure and phenolic pipe in both exposures, the effect of orientation is minimal. The effect of pipe diameter was investigated using PVC pipe. The Dm was less for 6-inch diameter PVC pipe than for 2-inch and 4-inch PVC pipe.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA302386
Entities
People
- Louis Nash
- William H. Mclain
Organizations
- United States Coast Guard Research & Development Center