Abstract: The thermal stability of PAN fabrics under air atmosphere conditions and combustion characteristics under three thermal radiation intensity conditions were investigated. The results showed that the thermal decomposition process of PAN fabric in air atmosphere mainly consists of three weight loss stages. With the increase of heat radiation intensity, the ignition time of PAN fabric is advanced; the peak of heat release rate and smoke production rate are increased to some extent, and the time to peak heat release rate was advances to different degrees; the mass loss rate is increased and the initial thermal decomposition time is advanced. The smoke density of PAN fabric is the highest when the thermal radiation intensity is 25 kW/m2 as the combustion is inadequate. The greater the heat radiation intensity, the faster the smoke diffusion. The fire performance index value decreases and the fire growth index value increases which indicates that the PAN fabric has a higher fire hazard.

Key words: polyacrylonitrile fabric, thermal stability, combustion characteristics, fire hazard