Assessment on heat release rate of furniture foam arrangement by a cone calorimeter

Heat release rate of a typical furniture foam sofa was assessed with a cone calorimeter. The sofa arrangement included two layers of fabric, cotton and foam. Individual component materials and combination of them were tested. A high radiative heat flux of 50 kW m-2was used to consume all materials in the tests. The sustained ignition time, peak heat release rate and total heat release rate were deduced from the heat release rate curves. These data are useful for classifying the materials by calculating two parameters describing the possibility to flashover. The superposition of heat release rate curves and total heat released (THR) were studied. It is observed that adding the heat release rate curves for component materials would not give the heat release rate curve of a furniture arrangement with different combinations of materials. However, the THR for the components can be added to give the THR of the arrangement.