NFPA 2112 Pass/Fail Test Series Part 4: The Thermal Shrinkage Test
Welcome to our four-part blog series about the pass/fail testing requirements for NFPA 2112 compliance. NFPA 2112 is also known as the “flash-fire standard,” and there are four tests which a garment or fabric must pass to receive this accreditation. Watch Tyndale’s VP of Technical Scott Margolin describe this test series NFPA 2112 Pass-Fail Tests.
The four tests a garment must pass to comply with NFPA 2112 are:
- The Manikin Test
- The Heat Transfer Performance Test
- The Vertical Flame Test
- The Thermal Shrinkage Test
This is the final installment in this blog series. In our previous posts we covered the Manikin Test, the Heat Transfer Performance Test, and the Vertical Flame Test. The last test we will cover is called the Thermal Shrinkage/Heat Resistance Test. This test determines if a fabric will shrink excessively melt, drip, or separate.
The test begins with a 15” square piece of fabric. This piece of fabric is washed three times, then laid horizontally into a 500°F oven for a duration of 5 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, the fabric is inspected to make sure it didn’t, drip, melt, separate, or ignite, and shrinkage is measured. When it comes to measuring shrinkage the fabric must not shrink more than 10%. If it exceeds this number the fabric will fail this test, while shrinkage of less than 10% will earn a passing grade.
The Thermal Shrinkage Test & Heat Resistance test is a final method used to analyze the relative protective performance of a specific fabric or garment. These results allow workers to confidently choose garments that offer the protection they need on the job.
Want to learn more? Browse our blog posts for more helpful information about NFPA 2112 and the answers to other frequently-asked questions regards FR testing and compliance.
