A designed set of upholstered chairs, differing variously with respect to foam, fabric and the use of an interliner, was subjected to rate of heat release studies using a specially constructed room calorimeter. Although the ease of ignition was found to be influenced by the covering fabric, major prog ress toward reducing fire risk was demonstrated through the use of improved materials such as combustion modified high resiliency foam and melamine modified foam. The presence of an interliner in the chair construction was addi tionally effective and, when used together with the modified foams, resulted in optimum fire performance.
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