Abstract: The influence of grid on the peak of Heat Release Rate (pkHRR) test of CONE was investigated,in which, cotton, flame-retardant cotton, PET and flame-retardant PET fabrics were used. The test results show that by using grid the coefficients of variation (C.V.) of pkHRR values of cotton and flame-retardant fabrics were reduced from 8.5% and 11.1% to 4.6% and 4.3% respectively, and the pkHRR values of PET and flame-retardant PET fabrics turned from abnormal distribution to normal distribution; and after increasing the number of grid, the C.V. of pkHRR values of PET and flame-retardant PET fabrics stood at 7.2% and 8.9% respectively. This demonstrates that the adoption of grid can significantly increase the repeatability of pkHRR values of these fabrics.

Key words: cotton; PET; flame-retardant; CONE; coefficient of variation