1 Measurements in flame retardant textiles and protective clothing using an instrumented manikin V M Kort-Kamp 1 , A M Santos 1 , A F Azevedo 1 , R M V Lima 1,2 , E Bittencourt 2 1 National Service of Industrial Training – Technology Center of Chemical and Textile Industry – SENAI CETIQT; 2 University of Campinas – UNICAMP; 3 Aeronautics Institute of Technology -ITA E-mail: vmkamp@cetiqt.senai.br Abstract: The flame test manikin system can be used to evaluate the performance of thermal protective clothing under fire simulation conditions. Different weights of thermal protective garments were tested and the total clothed burn injury area decreased as the fabric weight increased. In addition, a comparison of different compositions for the same weight was analyzed too. Keywords: Instrumented manikin, flame manikin, flame retardant protective clothing 1. INTRODUCTION When clothing is exposed to intense heat or flames, polymers and other materials will suffer thermal degradation and combustion, which depend on parameters such as absorption of energy from heat flux (conductive, convective and radiant), molecular composition, formation of products like liquids, char and solid materials. However, the combustion characteristics are too complex, depending on the fabric fiber, cloth structure, moisture trapped in the fibers, nature of finishing and others [1]. In this scenario, flame retardant (FR) finishes are applied in fabrics to reduce clothing flammability and avoid melting or ignition when the garment is exposed to heat. According to Torvi [2], flame resistance is defined as the property of a material whereby flaming combustion is slowed, terminated or prevented. Textile materials can become flame resistant through chemical treatments or by use of inherently flame-resistant fibers. Chemically treated FR fabrics are produced by applying a flame retardant chemical finish to a fabric or by adding a chemical treatment to the fibers before they are woven or knitted into the fabric. These flame-retardants form a strong bond with the polymer chain, modifying its molecular structure and for this reason, it is difficult to remove these chemicals by washing. Inherently FR fabrics are made of fibers in which the FR properties are part of the polymer backbone like aramids. The thermal protective performance of the textiles and garments can be evaluated using a variety of standard tests [3-4]. Bench-scale tests such as TPP test, RPP test and full-scale flame manikin test are the advanced methods employed to assess the protective properties of the materials aforementioned. This study proposed to evaluate the performance characteristics of flame resistant clothing and the influence of the fabric weight in the predict burn injury using an instrumented manikin.