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Cabin & Fire Safety Reports
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| Title: |
Evaluation of Fire Test Methods for Aircraft Thermal
Acoustical Insulation |
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Summary: |
Round robin flammability testing was
performed by eight laboratories on thermal acoustical
insulation blankets and films used as insulation
coverings. Test samples were subjected to vertical Bunsen
burner testing and cotton swab testing. The test data
indicated that the cotton swab test produced consistent
test results, whereas the vertical flammability test did
not. |
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| Title: |
An
Acoustic Emission Test for Aircraft Halon 1301 Fire
Extinguisher Bottles |
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Summary: |
An acoustic emission test for
aircraft Halon 1301 bottles has been developed, a
prototype acoustic emission test system constructed, and
over 200 used bottles tested at the repair facilities of
the two manufacturers of these bottles. The system
monitors a bottle with six acoustic sensors while the
pressure of the bottle is raised by heating it in an oven.
The sensors are held in position, with a fixed
relationship between them, by a special fixture. This
fixture is designed to fit spheres with diameters between
5 and 16 inches. Results of the tests on used bottles
indicate that over 95 percent of the bottles showed no
indication of significant defects. The rest had some
indication of flaws or corrosion. However, all bottles
tested to date have passed the hydrostatic test required
by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Based upon this
data, the Air Transport Association (ATA) requested an
exemption from the DOT to allow their members to use this
acoustic emission test in place of the hydrostatic test.
This exemption, DOT-E 11850, was granted to the ATA on
December 11, 1997. |
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| Title: |
Development of a Minimum Performance Standard for Lavatory
Trash Receptacle Automatic Fire Extinguishers |
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Summary: |
This report contains a summary of
the work performed during the development of a minimum
performance standard for lavatory trash receptacle
automatic fire extinguishers. The developmental work was
performed under the direction of the International Halon
Replacement Working Group. |
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| Title: |
The
Development of a Flammability Test Method for Aircraft
Blankets |
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Summary: |
Flammability testing of aircraft
blankets was conducted in order to develop a fire
performance test method and performance criteria for
blankets supplied to commercial aircraft operators.
Aircraft blankets were subjected to vertical Bunsen burner
testing, 4-ply vertical testing, full-scale match and
cigarette testing, and single- and 4-ply horizontal
testing. It was found that the 4-ply horizontal test
correlates well with the full-scale match tests, produces
consistent test results, and realistically evaluates ease
of ignition. |
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