A Numerical Study of the Irradiated Ignition of Obliquely Oriented Thermally-Deformable Polymer

Abstract

This study numerically investigates the influence of molten matter dynamics on the gasification and subsequent ignitability of an inclined thermoplastic specimen subjected to localized irradiation heat flux normal to the surface. A thermoplastic material is modeled as a phase change material with predefined solidification and melting temperatures, respectively, and the gasification process is modeled by the Arrhenius law of molten matter. Gas phase kinetics is not considered for simplicity purposes; instead, the onset of ignition of polymer is estimated on the basis of the critical mass flux concept. According to the numerical results, as the inclination angle becomes steeper (toward the vertical angle), the estimated ignition delay becomes shorter, showing ignition is promoted, whereas it is turned to be difficult to occur when inclination angles are above the vertical angle (>90˚) having a longer delay time for the onset of gasification. With careful observation, the thermal interaction between the hot molten matter and unmelted (cold) solid is found to play an important role in gasification. The formation of a bulge due to resolidification to suppress the dripping downstream could be the source to promote ignition. By contrast, the hot molten matter is enforced to detach from the unmelted solid and "freely fall-off" to prohibit ignition for inclination angles beyond 90˚. This supports the notion that high-enthalpy caused by the external heating is simply lost because of dripping, and there is less chance of catching fire there.