Testing of selected types of polyurethane foams by the cone calorimeter method

Polyurethane foams (PUR foams) belong to polymeric materials whose use is relatively wide. They most frequently form filling of upholstered furniture and mattresses. If their ignition and subsequent burning occurs, the amount of toxic combustion products originated that are a common cause of death. For this reason, it is important to study these materials in terms of fire protection. In this work, we focused on four types of polyurethane foams: two standard types with different densities (N 3038, N 4050), one highly elastic type (R 4036), and a type having retardant treatment (FF 5740). Selected foam types were tested by the cone calorimeter method according to the standard ISO 5660-1: 2002. Samples were exposed to the heat flux 20 kW/m(2), where we obtained parameters such as the heat release rate (HRR), the total heat release, changes in the mass of the samples and the rate of the mass loss. Polyurethane foam with retardant treatment longest withstood the load of the heat flux, the value of the maximum heat release rate represented the lowest value.