| JAR 25.853 (A) Appendix F Part 1 (A) 1 (ii) Vertical Test |
| Flame resistance testing for aircraft interior materials. |
Introduction: Until September 2005, the flammability performance criteria of materials used in aircraft interiors was described within CAA Specification 8, Issue 2:1974 Section 4. With the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) taking over (from the CAA) the responsibility for the airworthiness, new certification requirements were introduced. Amongst these was the change to JAR25 specifications. A brief description of the migration from CAA Specification 8 to the JAR25 standard is available here. |
JAR 25.853 (A) Appendix F Part 1 (A) 1 (ii) Vertical Test will be referred to here as JAR25. This test describes the minimum standards of flame resistance for materials used in passenger, crew, baggage and cargo compartments of aircraft. There are four types of test. |
- Vertical Test
- Horizontal test
- Forty-Five Degree Test
- Sixty Degree Test
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Procedure: It is the Vertical test that will be described.
The Vertical Test is usually employed to test and assess the flame resistance of the vast majority of fabrics used in aircraft interiors and is illustrated below. Three warp and three weft specimens are tested for each test sample. A butane ignition source, with a flame temperature not less than 840°C, is applied to the cut edge of each replicate specimen for a time dependent on the materials intended end use within the aircraft. For each specimen, the after-flame time, after-glow time, flaming time of any drippings and burn length (extent of damage sustained by the specimen) are recorded. Acceptable limits for these parameters are given in the specification. |
Prior to testing, fabric is maintained in an air conditioned environment (in which both temperature and relative humidity are controlled) for a specified time. This is a brief outline of JAR25 and is not intended as a comprehensive account of the procedure. |
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