Various apparel flammability characteristics of more than 60 fabrics were explored within the framework of the Cooperative Industry Program on General Apparel Flam mability sponsored by the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. Testing consisted of apparel fire simulations on a full size mannequin and a device simulating a moving leg, as well as laboratory measurements of ignition time, heat release, weight loss, and linear and area flame spread. This paper supplements earlier reports by participants in the program by providing a different analysis of the experimental results. Almost any test method used for these purposes satisfactorily identifies apparel fabrics with low burn injury potential. Differentiation according to injury potential among the other fabrics does not appear to be possible with any single test method, although the heat release test methods appear more promising than the others. Fabrics with short ignition times and high heat release rates and total heat release are believed to present a relatively high burn injury hazard. In addition, a tendency to continue burning after contact with a surface (as when a burning garment touches the skin), which is found only in a few fabric types, can add to the burn injury hazard. A test method concept that incorporates these three factors is discussed.
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