Prescreening of Plastics for UL 94 Fire Performance

UL 94 (Underwriters Laboratories testing standard UL 94) is one of the most widely used flammability tests to determine the relative flammability for plastic materials. It measures the ability of the plastic part to extinguish the flame after ignition and its drip behavior in response to a small open flame or radiant heat source under controlled laboratory conditions.

The est results are intended to serve as a preliminary indicator of the suitability of the material in terms of flammability for a particular application, such as electronic devices and plastic materials used for parts in devices.

Flammability is affected by several factors such as:

• Ease of ignition – how quickly a material ignites;
• Flame propagation – how quickly the fire spreads over a polymer surface;
• fire resistance – how quickly fire penetrates a wall or barrier;
• Heat release rate – how much heat is released and how quickly;
• Ease of extinction – how quickly the flame chemistry causes extinction;
• smoke evolution;
• Toxic gas production.

Therefore, the study of how plastics burn has been and continues to be an important area of ​​research to examine.

Plastic products need to be tested to ensure they meet a very specific set of regulatory safety and quality standards. Our testing program does just that by evaluating and analyzing the standards and properties of your plastic materials.

Our assessments include determination of material flammability (combustion properties), ignition characteristics from various thermal and electrical sources, and electrical monitoring. Our team is also equipped to test the protection of property, particularly with regard to prolonged exposure to high temperatures (air-oven aging), water, ultraviolet light, cold and other external influences. With so many resources at our fingertips, additional electrical properties and analytical testing can be easily performed at your request.

EUROLAB assists manufacturers with UL 94 test compliance. Our test experts, with their professional working mission and principles, provide you, our manufacturers and suppliers, the best service and controlled testing process in our laboratories. Thanks to these services, businesses receive more effective, high-performance and quality testing services and provide safe, fast and uninterrupted service to their customers.