IS THE CONE CALORIMETER USEFUL IN ASSESSING FURNITURE COMPOSITE BEHAVIOR BY THE CALIFORNIA TECHNICAL BULLETIN-133 TEST

The California Technical Bulletin 133 (TB 133) test method is being us ed to regulate the fire performance of seating furniture in public bui ldings in some states. Such regulations in the marketplace have brough t together a coalition of textile, fabric and furniture manufacturers to concentrate their efforts on trying to better understand combinatio ns of foam, fabric, barrier and styling features from the standpoint o f fire performance. Chemical suppliers to the polyurethane flexible fo am industry are working towards developing correlations between bench scale test methods and the full scale California TB 133. A collection of eight upholstery fabrics, five interliner barrier fabrics and a fir e retardant foam were selected by the coalition as materials represent ative of contract furniture markets today. Foam/fabric composites whic h had been tested using the TB 133 procedure were tested in our labora tory using the Cone Calorimeter by the ASTM E 1354 test method. Result s indicated that composite performance was dependent on the type of fa bric and barrier used. The overall performance of the fabrics and barr iers could be ranked similarly by both the California TB 133 and by th e ASTM E 1354 test methods. Even though differences in combustion char acteristics were noted between the two test methods, we were able to u se criteria based on heat release values and correlate up to 75% of th e passes and failures obtained by TB 133 test criteria. The test worke d better for composites that performed either very well or very poorly by TB 133. Test results reported in this paper are used to measure an d describe the properties of materials, products, or assemblies in res ponse to heat and flame under controlled laboratory conditions and mus t not be used to describe, appraise or predict the fire hazard or fire risk of materials, products, or assemblies under actual fire conditio ns. Test results may be used only as part of an overall fire risk asse sment that takes into account all of the factors pertinent to the fire hazard of a particular material in a specific end use. Correlations b etween bench scale tests and full scale tests may help in narrowing th e field of potential material candidates. However, bench scale tests c annot assess the effect of design features. Therefore, full scale test ing remains necessary before final acceptance of any furniture.