A NUMERICAL-MODEL FOR PILOT IGNITION OF PMMA IN A CONE CALORIMETER

The application of a fire-engineering field model to the analysis of a polymer fuel sample ignited in a cone calorimeter is described. The f ield model solves the three-dimensional, full Navier-Stokes equations in a time-dependant fashion. Transient thermal conduction within the f uel sample is included, and degradation of the polymer is controlled b y a temperature-dependant zero-order Arrhenius expression. Using PMMA as the polymer fuel sample, the predicted ignition times from the nume rical model are compared to experimental data at various cone irradiat ion levels.