Thermal Analysis of a New Glass Fiber-Reinforced Bismaleimide Composite Material Used for Firefighter Helmets

Safety helmets represent essential Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) used in firefighter protection and emergency situations. They protect firefighter's face and eyes against flames, heat and flying debris. When temperature levels are high, user's thermal comfort is affected. A glass fib...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inIOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 374; no. 1; pp. 12022 - 12027
Main Authors Ciubotariu-Ana, P, Micu, C A, Lohan, N M, Pricop, B, Bujoreanu, L G, Bejinariu, C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol IOP Publishing 01.06.2018
Subjects
Bismaleimides
Composite materials
Differential scanning calorimetry
Dynamic mechanical analysis
Emergency equipment
Fiber composites
Firefighters
Glass fiber reinforced plastics
Glass fibers
Heating
Injection molding
Internal friction
Safety helmets
Storage modulus
Thermal comfort
Thermodynamic properties
Vibratory loads
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Safety helmets represent essential Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) used in firefighter protection and emergency situations. They protect firefighter's face and eyes against flames, heat and flying debris. When temperature levels are high, user's thermal comfort is affected. A glass fibre-reinforced bismaleimide composite material has a number of improved properties in terms of mechanical and thermal characteristics, as compared to the materials that are currently used. The present paper aims to comparatively analyse the thermal behaviour of an injection moulded polypropylene helmet and the newly developed hot modelling material, under the form of a glass fibre-reinforced bismaleimide composite material. Thermal analysis was performed using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic-Mechanical Analysis (DMA). DSC and DMA thermograms were corroborated and discussed, from the point of view of the consecutive solid state transitions occurring during heating, mostly in the second heating-cooling cycle. The isothermal behaviour of glass fibre-reinforced bismaleimide composite material, during strain sweeps performed by DMA, enabled the determination of internal friction and storage modulus, under vibratory loads, at different temperatures. The advantages of the newly developed glass fibre-reinforced bismaleimide composite material were highlighted.
ISSN:1757-8981
1757-899X
DOI:10.1088/1757-899X/374/1/012022