TY - JOUR A1 - Turski Silva Diniz, Analice A1 - Huth, Christian A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Dripping and decomposition under fire: Melamine cyanurate vs. glass fibres in polyamide 6 JF - Polymer Degradation and Stability N2 - Manipulating the melt dripping of thermoplastics makes a fire scenario more or less dangerous. Yet, a detailed understanding of this phenomenon has remained a question mark in studies of the flammability of plastics. In this work, the individual and collective impacts of additives on the dripping behaviour of polyamide 6 (PA6) were studied. A set of materials compounded with melamine cyanurate (MCA) and glass fibre (GF) was investigated. Under UL 94 vertical test conditions, the dripping during first and second ignition was quantified and investigated in detail. The number, size and temperature of the drops were addressed, and the materials and their drops evaluated with respect to such aspects as their averaged molecular weight, thermal decomposition and rheological properties. PA6 with V-2 classification improved to V-0 with the addition of MCA, and achieved HB in the presence of GF. PA6/GF/MCA achieved V-2. Non-flaming drops of PA6/MCA consisted of oligomeric fragments. Flaming drops of PA6/GF showed a more pronounced decomposition of PA6 and an increased GF content. The dripping behaviour of PA6/GF/MCA can be understood as a combination of the influence of both additives. The results showed nicely that dripping under fire is neither a straightforward material property nor a simple additive influence, but the complex response of the material influenced by the interaction and competition of different phenomena. KW - Dripping KW - UL 94 KW - Polyamide 6 KW - Melamine cyanurate KW - Glass fibre KW - Flame retardant PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2019.109048 SN - 0141-3910 VL - 171 SP - 109048 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-50239 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -