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A PMMA flammability analysis using the MCC

Effect of specimen mass

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Abstract

A serial of tests were carried out to evaluate the effect of specimen mass on the test results for PMMA conducted in a micro-scale combustion calorimeter. Seven heating rates were used to test specimens of mass ranging from 0.5 to 6.0 mg with nominal interval of 0.5 mg. Eighty-five specimens were tested. Heat release rate, onset temperature, temperature at maximum heat release rate, total heat release, and heat release capacity were determined. The influence of specimen mass at each heating rate was analyzed. Specimen mass influences the maximum heat release rate, onset temperature, and temperature at maximum heat release rate significantly. The higher the heating rate, the greater the influence. Reliable results could be obtained as long as the specimen mass is more than 1 mg with oxygen concentration above 5 %; thus, the oxygen concentration limit might be extended from 10 to 5 %.

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Abbreviations

α :

Thermal diffusivity (m−2 s−1)

β :

Heating rate (K s−1)

E a :

Activation energy (kJ mol−1)

h c :

Net calorific value of sample (J g−1)

h c,gas :

Specific heat of combustion of specimen gases (J g−1)

η c :

Heat release capacity (J g−1 K−1)

K :

Thermodynamic temperature (K)

M o :

Initial specimen mass (mg)

Mean:

Mean value of test data

\(\Delta_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }}\) :

The change in the concentration (volume fraction) of O2 in the gas stream (%)

ρ :

Density of oxygen at ambient conditions (kg m−3)

Q(t):

Specific heat release rate at time t, (W g−1)

Q max :

Maximum specific heat release rate, (W g−1)

r xy :

Correlation coefficient

R :

General gas constant (8.314 J mol−1 K−1)

t :

Time (s)

T :

Temperature (°C)

T max :

Temperature of maximum peak heat release rate (°C)

T onset :

Onset temperature of specific heat release rate (°C)

T P :

Temperature of peak pyrolysis (K)

T P (β):

Temperature of maximum pyrolysis at specified heating rate (K)

Y p :

Pyrolysis residue (g g−1)

σ :

Standard deviation

Φ :

Thermokinetic parameter (K s mg−2/3)

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 51376093. The research team is honored by “Six Talent Peaks” project of Jiangsu Province, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210014, China

    Qiang Xu

  2. School of Computer Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210014, China

    Cong Jin

  3. School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia

    Gregory J. Griffin

  4. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), 02044, Espoo, Finland

    Anna Matala

  5. Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, School of Engineering, Aalto University, 00076, Aalto, Finland

    Simo Hostikka

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  1. Qiang Xu
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  2. Cong Jin
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  3. Gregory J. Griffin
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  4. Anna Matala
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Correspondence to Qiang Xu.

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Xu, Q., Jin, C., Griffin, G.J. et al. A PMMA flammability analysis using the MCC. J Therm Anal Calorim 126, 1831–1840 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-5688-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-5688-z

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