Test method for ranking the fire properties of materials in space based facilities

The prevention of accidental fires in space-based facilities is a major safety concern. A new methodology for testing and ranking the flammability behavior of solid combustible materials is presented. Based on the principles of the LIFT (ASTM-E 1321-93), the proposed test method measures the piloted ignition delay and flame spread rate of a material as a function of a known external heat flux, but it also includes the forced flow velocity and oxygen concentration as test parameters. It is shown that the ignition delay, the critical heat flux for ignition, and the flame spread rate are a function of flow velocity. This method is considered more suitable for testing materials to be used in space-based facilities, since in the absence of buoyancy, forced convection is the dominant mode of mass and energy transport.