Radiative ignition of combustible materials I. Polymeric materials undergoing nonflaming thermal degradation - The critical storage problem

The critical storage problem for a self-heating combustible material exposed to an external radiative heat source is investigated. The reaction kinetics are defined in terms of a characteristic temperature and an activation energy, linking small-scale experimental techniques to mediumscale flammability tests. The model is nondimensionalised in such a way that material properties of fundamental interest are retained as distinct continuation parameters.