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Characterization of thermal decomposition behavior of commercial flame-retardant ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) rubber

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Abstract

The thermal decomposition behavior of the commercial flame-retardant ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) rubber was studied employing cone calorimeter and simultaneous thermogravimetry (TG)–differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Significant influence of the external heat flux on the thermal decomposition behavior of the commercial flame-retardant EPDM rubber was characterized with the measurement of various parameters, including the visual observation, the ignition time, the mass loss, the mass loss rate, the heat release rate and the effective heat of combustion employing cone calorimeter. Three different decomposition regions of the commercial flame-retardant EPDM rubber may be identified according to the applied external heat flux employing cone calorimeter: (1) region 1 (external heat flux ≤35 kW m−2) with well exertion of effectiveness of fire retardants to the EPDM rubber; (2) region 2 (35 kW m−2 < external heat flux ≤ 45 kW m−2) with gradual loss of effectiveness of fire retardants to the EPDM rubber; and (3) region 3 (external heat flux >45 kW m−2) with little effectiveness of fire retardants to the EPDM rubber. Six thermal decomposition stages of the commercial flame-retardant EPDM rubber were noted in both of region 2 and 3. However, merely four thermal decomposition stages were demonstrated in region 1. Similar thermal decomposition behaviors of the commercial flame-retardant EPDM rubber to those of cone calorimeter experiments were examined in the TG–DSC tests, thus validating the cone calorimeter experimental results. The present study may be of practical use in fire safety design of the underground rail transportation systems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was sponsored by the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant Nos. 20123402110048 and 20123402120018) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51206157 and 51323010). The authors thank associate Prof. Lei Song and Dr. Qilong Tai from University of Science and Technology of China and research assistant Wei Tang from University of Maryland for their help with the discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Ruiyu Chen, Shouxiang Lu, Changhai Li & Manhou Li

  2. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Ruiyu Chen, Manhou Li & Siuming Lo

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  1. Ruiyu Chen
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Correspondence to Shouxiang Lu.

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Chen, R., Lu, S., Li, C. et al. Characterization of thermal decomposition behavior of commercial flame-retardant ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) rubber. J Therm Anal Calorim 122, 449–461 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-015-4701-2

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