Fire Retardant Carbon Nanopaper Coating For Polymer Composites: Flammability Evaluation And Thermal Degradation Modeling

In this study, a 1D transient finite difference model was developed to predict the thermal response and post fire flexural moduli degradation of glass fiber reinforced polyester composites (FRP) coated with CNF based nanopapers subjected to various level of heat fluxes. A temperature dependent post fire mechanical property model proposed in an earlier study was implemented with the thermal model in which the porosity and permeability of the material were taken into account. By comparing the post fire residual flexural moduli, the model prediction showed reasonable agreement with the experimental data and expected physical behaviors. The model numerically demonstrates the coating of nanopaper helps retain the structure integrity of the composites structure, namely, the nanopaper coating leads to a reduction in mass loss, reduced cold side temperature, and eventually improved mechanical property. Furthermore, the parametric study of the model suggested that the porosity of the material has profound influence in the residual moduli of the composites