Prompt response and durability of polymer ablation from synthetic fibers irradiated by thermal plasmas for arc resistant clothes

Interactions between thermal plasmas and synthetic fibers such as polyamide, polyester, phenol and aramid were investigated by thermal plasma irradiation technique. Understanding the above interactions is crucial to design effective flame retardant synthetic fiber clothes with arc resistance to protect a human from arc flash accidents. To investigate the interactions, an Ar inductively coupled thermal plasma (ICTP) was used instead of the arc discharge because the ICTP has high controllability and no contamination. The ICTP irradiation raises polymer ablation in case of polyamide and polyester. Two features of the polymer ablation such as prompt response and durability were fundamentally investigated from viewpoint of shielding the heat flux. It was found that polyamide fiber has both a high prompt response and a long durability.