Method to determine the equivalent thermal diffusion coefficient of the intumescent coating for cables

The thermal diffusion coefficient of the intumescent insulating layer, which forms when a fire-retardant coating is subjected to heat in a fire, is a key factor used in assessing the fire protection performance of the coating. However, because there are many factors influencing this coefficient, it is usually difficult to measure its value directly from tests. Based on the insulation failure experiment of a cable exposed to heat, the relationship between failure time, equivalent thermal diffusion coefficient, and thickness of expansion layer has been determined by means of numerical calculation from a heat transfer model built in this paper; a computing formula has been thus established. According to the formula, the equivalent thermal diffusion coefficient of the expansion layer can be determined after the diffusion coefficient and the thickness of the expansion layer are obtained from the insulation failure experiment of a cable.