Combined effects of width and moisture content on upward flame spread over cotton fabrics

Present work experimentally investigates the combined effects of width and moisture on the upward flame characteristics over cotton fabrics, using 0.245 mm thick and 1500 mm tall samples with 5 different widths (40 mm, 60 mm, 80 mm, 100 mm, 120 mm) and 5 different moisture contents (0%, 4%, 8%, 12%, 16%). Three distinct stages of flame development are observed during the tests. The flame height first increases sharply, then keeps increasing at an approximately constant speed, and eventually drops a little. An increase in the width will increase the base of the flame spread rate, indicating that the flame of wider sample spreads faster than the narrower. With the increasing of the moisture content, the time points at which the flame begin to spread steadily are advanced. Meanwhile, the flame height and the flame spread rate both tend to decrease.