Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to develop a new hand flame manikin to test firefighters' protective gloves and test the newly-developed hand flame manikin facilities. We developed a hand flame manikin with 11 heat flux sensors (0.1 s per measurement) on the stainless steel surface, which was rotated 360° in 10 seconds. The height of the hand flame manikin was adjustable from 1,000 to 1,600 mm, and the manikin was surrounded by a total of eight torches. The results of a 10-sec flame exposure showed that the hand flame manikin facility produced a maximum value of 84 kW/㎡ which was stipulated by ISO 13506 and ASTM F1930, but the density of heat flux among 11 sensors showed deviation over 15%. This is the prime consideration for improving the manikin. Angles of torches had significant influences on the heat flux showing that a diagonal flame from below (45°-angle) induced greater heat flux and larger flame size than a horizontal flame (90°-angle). Both static/rotating condition and dry/wet glove condition did not affect the average values of heat flux during the 10-sec flame exposure, whereas materials of dry gloves got damaged showing shrinkage and combustion and wet gloves were largely maintained their exterior form. The results indicated that both qualitative test methods such as visual inspection and the quantitative test methods such as evaluating heat flux and surface temperature are required when developing test methods with hand flame manikins.

Keywords

• Hand flame manikin;
• Heat flux density;
• Burn injuries;
• Fire protective gloves;
• Test method