1 General considerations
1.1 It is assumed that any fabric intended
for marine use will either have been subjected to a permanent fire retardant treatment
or have been made from inherently flame resistant materials. This Appendix describes
procedures intended to permit verification of this assumption.
2 Application
2.1 These procedures should be applied to
fabrics.
2.2 Each fabric should be
subjected to only those exposure procedures which are applicable to its intended use.
It should meet the flame resistance requirements of section 5 after passing through
the appropriate exposure cycles.
2.2.1
Accelerated exposure tests described in this Appendix should provide sufficient
testing to permit a reasonable appraisal of the durability of the treatment (under the
conditions for which it was designed) for the useful life of the fabric.
3 Accelerated dry-cleaning
3.1 The treated fabric should be
dry-cleaned in a coin-operated dry-cleaning apparatus as part of a load made up with
dummy pieces of dry-cleanable fabrics. The effective liquor ratio should be 1:10 or 10
kg of liquid per kilogram of fabric.
3.2
The coin-operated apparatus with perchloroethylene solvent (about 1 per cent charge
system involving an emulsifying agent and water) should be run for the full cycle
which includes tumble-drying. At the end of each dry-cleaning cycle, remove the load
from the unit and separate the pieces.
3.3
The above dry-cleaning should be repeated until ten full cycles of cleaning and drying
have been completed.
3.4 Test specimens
should then be cut from the dry-cleaned fabric for testing.
4 Accelerated laundering
4.1 A sample of the treated fabric should
be washed in an automatic commercial washing machine using a solution containing 0.5
per cent solution of IEC test detergent with perborate type 1*. The liquor
ratio used should be 1:15.
* The
formulation of this detergent is defined in IEC Publication 456 as amended in 1980.
4.2 The operating cycle outlined in table
1 should be followed.
1 This cycle is intended for white fabrics.
For coloured fabrics, the bleaching and blueing operations are omitted and the
temperature of the "sudsing" and "rinsing" operations is reduced by 17° C.
4.3 The sample should then be dried in a
tumbler-drier at a temperature of 80° C.
4.4 The above procedure should be repeated until ten full cycles of washing
and drying have been completed.
4.4.1 If
the material is to be subjected to a special use, more laundering may be required.
4.5 Where instructions for laundering a
fabric are supplied by the manufacturer or finisher, those instructions should be
followed in preference to the above procedure which simulates a typical commercial
laundering practice.
5 Accelerated water
leaching
5.1 A sample of the treated fabric should
be totally submerged in a vessel containing tap water at room temperature for a period
of 72 hours. The vessel should be capable of use with a liquor ratio of 1:20.
5.2 The water should be drained from the tank
and replenished at 24-hour intervals during the immersion period.
5.3 At the conclusion of the immersion period, the sample
should be removed from the test vessel and dried in a tumbler-drier or oven at a
temperature of about 70°C.
6 Accelerated
weathering
6.1 Either a suitable accelerated
weathering procedure using a xenon lamp or one of the following described procedures
may be called for by the responsible Administration.
6.2 Alternative procedure No. 1.
6.2.1 Apparatus:
.1
the apparatus should consist of a vertical metal cylinder fitted with a vertical
carbon arc at its centre and having a specimen holder mounted within;
.2 the diameter of the cylinder should be such that the distance to the
face of the specimen holder from the centre of the carbon arc is 375 mm;
.3 the cylinder should be arranged to rotate about the arc at a
rate of approximately one revolution per minute;
.4 a water
spray should be provided within the cylinder and fitted with means to regulate the
amount of water discharged;
.5 the vertical carbon arc should
be either 13 mm diameter solid electrode type, if operating on direct current, or a
single-cored electrode, if operating on alternating current. The electrodes should be
of uniform composition;
.6 the arc should be surrounded by a
clear globe of quartz glass, 1.6 mm thick, or other enclosure having equivalent
absorbing and transmitting properties.
6.2.2 Operation of the test equipment:
.1 the specimens for test should be mounted on the inside of the cylinder
facing the arc;
.2 the cylinder should rotate at
approximately one revolution per minute for the duration of the test;
.3 the water spray should discharge about 0.0026 m3/min on to the specimens
for about 18 minutes during each 120-minute period;
.4 the
arc should operate on 13A direct current or 17A, 60 Hz alternating current, with
voltage at the arc of 140V;
.5 the electrodes should be
renewed at intervals sufficiently frequent to ensure full operative conditions of the
lamp;
.6 the globe should be cleaned when the electrodes are
removed or at least once in each 36 hours of operation.
6.2.3 Test cycle:
.1
specimens should be subjected to this exposure for 360 hours;
.2 specimens should then be allowed to dry thoroughly at a temperature of
between 20.. and 40° C;
.3 after drying, the specimens should
proceed through the flame test.
6.3
Alternative procedure No. 2
6.3.1
Apparatus:
.1 the apparatus should consist
of a vertical carbon are mounted at the centre of a vertical cylinder;
.2 a rotating rack should be mounted on the inside of the
cylinder such that the distance from the face of the specimen to the centre of the arc
is 475 mm;
.3 the arc should be designed to accommodate two
pairs of carbon electrodes No. 22 upper electrodes and No. 13 lower electrodes.
However, the arc should burn between only one pair of electrodes at a time;
.4 no filters or enclosures should be used between the arcs and
the specimens;
.5 spray nozzles should be mounted in the
cylinder so that the specimens should be exposed to wetting for about 18 minutes
during each 120-minute period.
6.3.2
Operation of test equipment:
.1 the
specimens for test should be mounted on the rotating rack, facing the arc;
.2 the rack should rotate about the arc at a uniform speed of
about one revolution per minute;
.3 the arc should operate on
60 A and 50 V across the arc for alternating current or 50 A and 60 V across the arc
for direct current.
6.3.3 Test cycle:
.1 specimens should be subjected to this
exposure for 100 hours;
.2 they should then be allowed to dry
thoroughly at a temperature of between 20.. and 40° C;
.3
after drying, the specimens should proceed through the flame test.