Flame test equipment requirements and industry standards

 

UL 94 is a flame retardant test standard developed by Underwriters Laboratories to evaluate the flame retardancy of plastic materials. According to UL 94, materials can be categorized into V-0, V-1, and V-2 ratings, which represent non-combustibility, extinguishing time of less than 10 seconds when burning vertically, and extinguishing time of less than 30 seconds, respectively. 2.

 

IEC 60695 is a series of standards issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for evaluating the flame retardancy of electrical and electronic equipment and its materials. These include the Cone Calorimeter (Cone Burning Tester), Glow Wire Test (Heating Wire Tester), and others.

 

NFPA 701 is a flame retardant test standard issued by the National Fire Protection Association (National Fire Protection Association), which is mainly used for evaluating the flame retardancy of decorative fabrics (such as curtains, drapery fabrics, theater curtains, etc.). The standard requires materials to follow specific burning rate requirements under specific conditions.

 

ISO 15025 is a flame retardancy test standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for evaluating the flame retardancy of materials such as protective clothing and furniture fabrics. The standard includes vertical burning test and radiant heat source test, etc.

 

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has published several standards related to flame testing. For example, the ASTM E84 standard is used to evaluate the burning characteristics of building material surfaces, and the ASTM D2863 standard is used to evaluate the oxygen index of materials.

 

One of the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that requires flame retardant properties of materials used in vehicle interiors to reduce the risk of fires in vehicle interiors.

 

A standard for the assessment of flame retardancy published by the European Committee for Standardization (EC) for the assessment of flame spreading performance of building products and structural materials.

 

A standard for assessing the flammability and burning performance of building materials issued by the National Standardization Administration of China (Standardization Administration of China), which classifies materials into a number of grades, such as Grade A1, Grade A2, and so on.

 

To understand the Flame test equipment requirements and standards for a specific industry or application, it is best to refer to documents issued by relevant industry organizations, associations or local government agencies. It is also important to be aware of local and international codes, laws and regulatory requirements as they may dictate Flame test equipment requirements for specific types of products or materials.