# Material fire safety and thermal properies of a (plastic) foam

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/material-fire-safety-and-thermal-properies-of-a-plastic-foam/718828>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 29, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/material-fire-safety-and-thermal-properies-of-a-plastic-foam/718828 "2015-04-29T17:21:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/material-fire-safety-and-thermal-properies-of-a-plastic-foam/718828/1 "2015-04-29T17:21:05Z")

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A follow-on from this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=755552). I have some foam in an area that might get warm. I’ve asked about fire safety and been sent a page in Chinese. The version translated by Google is [here](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asdfv.com%2Ffoam.html). Basically I want to know the thermal properties of the foam. Especially how hot it can safely get and what happens when it does get hot.

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/material-fire-safety-and-thermal-properies-of-a-plastic-foam/718828/2 "2015-04-29T17:35:59Z")

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Your document nicely explains what happens after the foam has been lit. You’re probably looking for melting point and ignition temperature, which don’t seem to be on that page.

Do you know what kind of foam this is?

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/material-fire-safety-and-thermal-properies-of-a-plastic-foam/718828/3 "2015-04-29T18:01:39Z")

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> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> You’re probably looking for melting point and ignition temperature, which don’t seem to be on that page.

Those would be nice, but

> [@](#):
>
> Do you know what kind of foam this is?

It’s there to quieten the device, is grey in colour, and feels squishy. Beyond that I really couldn’t tell you - I’m not a materials scientist.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/material-fire-safety-and-thermal-properies-of-a-plastic-foam/718828/4 "2015-04-29T20:03:22Z")

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> [@Quartz](#):
>
> Those would be nice, but
> 
> It’s there to quieten the device, is grey in colour, and feels squishy. Beyond that I really couldn’t tell you - I’m not a materials scientist.

Even a MS won’t know what it is if the only clues are “it’s gray and feels squishy.”

Where did the page of combustion properties come from? Whoever sent you that page probably knows what the material is. Without knowing the material name it’s impossible to say more about its properties.