Fires of varying intensities could be simulated with this method. Observations of ignition, time to ignition, flame spread, and burn time were made with and without a continued external heat flux. The evaluation procedure was developed by Factory Mutual in Norwood, Massachusetts, and used in testing cable jackets. Lubricants Evaluated Only commercially available lubricants were evaluated. The heating time required for a sample to ignite, with a pilot flame, was measured at three heat flux rates.
Heat flux represents the intensity of the outside fire source.
These are common temperatures in any significant fire. Note that a majority of the samples would ignite and burn. The only samples which did not ignite were Polywater J and the Hypalon cable jacket control at the lower heat flux, and Polywater J at the highest heat flux. We gain more perspective on this data by looking at the samples' burning behavior once ignited. Once a sample had ignited, the time that it continued to flame was measured.