Linking the flame-retardant mechanisms of an ethylene-acrylate copolymer, chalk and silicone elastomer system with its intumescent behaviour

In this paper the flame-retardant mechanisms of a flame-retardant system consisting of ethylene-acrylate copolymer, chalk and silicone elastomer are linked to its foaming process and to its formation of a final intumescent structure. Thermocouples were placed inside and at the surface of cone calorimeter test specimens in order to measure the temperature at different depths during the formation of the intumescent structure. The temperature and visual observations of the foaming process were then linked to chemical reactions seen with thermogravimetric analysis and also coupled with earlier knowledge of the flame-retardant mechanism. \ A correlation is seen between the chemical reactions, the temperature (inside and at the surface of a cone calorimeter test specimen) as measured by thermocouples and visual observations in the intumescent process. Further, the outcome of this study provides useful information for achieving a deeper understanding of the flame-retardant mechanisms of the ethylene-acrylate copolymer, chalk and silicone elastomer system. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.