Comparative Study of the Behavior of Seams in Fabrics that Retard the Flames, Subjected to Heat and Fire
Sandra Monteiro De Albuquerque, Regina Aparecida Sanches

Abstract
The necessary attention given to the selection of base fabric for the protective clothing against heat and fire is, sometimes, neglected when manufacturing the product. Factors such as outsourcing of the sewing process by the companies and the quality inspection only at the end may raise difficulties not only to the supervision of the manufacturing process, as well as to the specification observation of the regulatory standards, enabling the production of ineffective clothing regarding its protective function. The seam flammability of a protective garment against heat and flames can be influenced by factors, independent or combined, such as, for instance, the chemical structure and the fiber geometry that compose the sewing threads, the thread structure, the thread lubrication, the tension in the stitch, the type of stitch and the base fabric flammability. This study aims to compare the behavior of seams made with different kinds of threads, on fabrics with flame-retardant characteristics, subjected to the vertical flammability test.

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