Journal
FIRE SAFETY JOURNAL
Volume 55, Issue -, Pages 61-68Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2012.10.007
Keywords
Electrical fire; Nonmetallic-sheathed cable; Short circuit fault; Thermal degradation; PVC insulation; Pyrolysis modeling
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The interaction between an energized size 14 American Wire Gauge (1.6 mm conductor diameter) nonmetallic-sheathed cable and a fire simulated using radiative heating was investigated. The time from the beginning of radiative exposure to an electrical arcing event was measured as a function of the heat flux and nominal alternating current voltage in air and nitrogen environments. The trends observed in these experiments were captured with simple mathematical expressions. Highly time-resolved voltage and current readings were collected around the time of the arcing events to better understand the dynamics of arc formation. These observations, together with cable insulation resistance measurements, were used to gain insight into the mechanism of heat flux induced cable failure. It was also demonstrated that a numerical pyrolysis model describing transient thermal degradation of cable insulation can be used to extrapolate the time of arc formation measurements conducted in this work to fire scenarios not realized in the cable testing experiments. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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