Sensitivity analysis applied to the pyrolysis of charring and non-charring materials under a cone calorimeter

Abstract

A sensitivity analysis is performed using the Morris method to prioritize the input parameters of a pyrolysis model according to their degree of influence on the heat release rate (HRR). Moreover, this sensitivity analysis aims determining possible interactions between the input parameters. Indeed, this important aspect is original and at our best knowledge has never been studied in the past. Two materials are studied under cone calorimeter: a non-charring (poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)) and a charring one (polyvinyl chloride (PVC)). Different thicknesses and external heat fluxes are studied to determine their effects on the parameters influence. With regard to PMMA, the most influent parameters are the activation energy, the emissivity, the density and the heat capacity. For the PVC, the most influent parameters are the activation energies. For the PVC, this study showed the existence of interactions between input parameters. This result is original and shows the importance of considering this in sensitivity analysis studies.