An oxygen index evaluation of flammability on modified epoxy/polyester systems

This article describes a study on flame retardancy conducted on a dual cure thermosetting system consisting of an epoxy resin, blended with an unsatur ated polyester. Neat resin panels and glass-fibre reinforced composites wer e prepared utilising several structurally different flame-retardant (FR) ad ditives. These materials were tested in order to determine the Limiting Oxy gen Index (LOI), which is a measure of the fire performance properties of a given material, Particular attention was paid to the FR properties of comp ounds, which are free of halogen such as bromine, in the absence of antimon y oxide. These compounds are based on phosphorous containing molecules. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.