Press Release, November 20, 1998
The First Non-Flammable Material for Aircraft Cabin Safety presented at FAA.
Fire Safety Meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
The First Non-flammable fabric laminate for Aircraft cabin and cargo interiors, Géopolymère Composite™ was introduced on November 18, 1998, in Atlantic City, NJ, USA, at the International Aircraft Fire and Cabin Safety Research Conference sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Current aircraft design utilizes several tons of combustible plastics for cabin interior components that includes the passenger compartment, cockpit and cargo compartments. This is a fire load comparable to the equivalent weight of aviation fuel. The recent introduction of fly-by-wire control system as well as the increase of electronics components on an aircraft (such as flat panel displays for TV, telephones and computers) represents a new, higher risk of electrical fires and the potentially tragic consequences of uncontained in-flight fires. The FAA is working to eliminate cabin fire as a cause of death in aircraft accidents. In the unusual event of an aircraft accident, there are only seconds for passengers to escape before toxic fumes and fire fill the cabin compartment.
The FAA flammability requirement for new materials is that they must withstand the 50-kw/m2 incident heat flux characteristic of a fully developed aviation fuel fire that penetrates the cabin skin. The material must prevent propagation of the fire into the cabin compartment. The first material to withstand this arduous test is Géopolymère Composite™ developed by Professor Joseph Davidovits of the Geopolymer Institute in France. Géopolymère Composite™ is described as an inorganic polymer (a silico-aluminate polysialate polymer) derived from the naturally non-flammable occurring geological materials silica and alumina, hence the name Geopolymer or Géopolymère in French.
Since January 1994, the Federal Aviation Administration has conducted a research and evaluation program on carbon fiber reinforced Géopolymère Composite™. Tests were carried out at the FAA Fire Research Section, FAA Technical Center, Atlantic City, NJ and at the Department of Civil Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in collaboration with Prof. Davidovits’ French company, CORDI-Géopolymère SA, Saint-Quentin, France. The FAA experiments indicate that even after exposure to a severe fire environment (more than 1,500°F during several hours), the carbon fiber reinforced Géopolymère Composite™ retained 63 % of its original flexural strength of 245 Mpa (approximately 169 ksi). In comparison, all materials presently used in an aircraft, including aluminum sheets and parts, organic based laminate composites and plastics, actually burn and are destroyed when submitted to the same severe fire environment.
Aircraft operators and manufacturers are sensitive to cost and cost-effectiveness. Aircraft operators estimate that each pound of weight on a commercial aircraft costs between $100 to $300 in operating expenses over the service life of the aircraft. Consequently, fire safe materials for use in aircraft must be extremely lightweight. With its low density of 1.85, carbon fiber reinforced Géopolymère Composite™ is lighter than aluminum (density 2.70) and structural steel (density 7.86).
Contact for technical information:
- FAA, Fire Research Section, Atlantic City,; Dr. Richard Lyon, 609-485-6076, e-mail: rlyon # admin.tc.faa.gov
- Rutgers University, Department of Civil Engineering, New Brunswick, NJ, Dr. P. Balaguru, 732-445-3537, e-mail: dellamur # erebus.rutgers.edu
Contact for business information:
- Cordi-Géopolymère , Saint-Quentin, France
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