Research

This page shares some research projects I have completed. Currently, I am a post-doctoral researcher at UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI). Before that, I was part of a Material Flammability group led by Dr. Stanislav Stoliarov (Stas) at University of Maryland, College Park during my Ph.D. studies. Stas’ group performs experimental and computational research on combustible materials such as polymers, vegetative fuels, fire retardant materials, and composites to understand dynamics of thermal decomposition and fire behavior of these materials.

Projects

• Comparison of pyrolysis properties of cast and extruded PMMA

  Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has long been a benchmark material of study in the fire research and fire modeling community due to its simple and predictable thermal decomposition behavior. Two common PMMA manufacturing processes, casting and extruding, produce polymers with slightly different properties and characteristics, primarily a result of differences in molecular mass.

• Flame Spread on Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) in Corner Configuration

  Corner fires are more hazardous than open wall fires due to the restricted geometry. The geometrical constraints cause corner flames to have longer flame lengths and more hazardous due to increased radiative feedback between the two adjacent walls. Thus, corner fires on combustible material serve as a severe test for the materials before they are employed in commercial applications. Developing prediction capability of fire hazard in such scenarios is important to assist material development, screening, and testing.

Publications

• Chaudhari, D.M., Stoliarov, S.I., Beach, M.W. and Suryadevara, K.A., Polyisocyanurate Foam Pyrolysis and Flame Spread Modeling, Applied Sciences, 2021 11(8), p.3463. doi: 10.3390/app11083463
• Chaudhari D. M., Fiola G, Stoliarov S. I, Experimental Analysis and Modeling of Buoyancy-driven Flame Spread on Cast Poly(methyl methacrylate) in Corner Configuration, Polymer Thermal Degradation and Stability, 2020 183 (109433). doi: 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2020.109433
• Fiola G, Chaudhari D. M., Stoliarov S. I, Comparison of Pyrolysis Properties of Extruded and Cast Poly(Methyl Methacrylate), Fire Safety journal, 2020 120 (103083). doi: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103083
• Jain P, Reese A. M, Chaudhari D. M, Mentzer R. A, Mannan M. S, Regulatory approaches-Safety case vs US approach: Is there a best solution today?, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 2017 46, p. 154-62. doi: 10.1016/j.jlp.2017.02.001

Conferences

• “Semi-empirical modeling of flame spread over solid combustibles in a corner configuration”, 12th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology (held virtually), Queensland, Australia, December 2021
• “Experiments and Modeling of Flame Spread over Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) in a Corner Configuration”, 12th U.S Combustion Meeting (Eastern States, held virtually), College Station, Texas, May 2021 (oral presentation)
• “Comparison of Pyrolysis properties of Extruded and Cast Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)”, 13th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science (held virtually), Waterloo, Canada, April 2021 (oral presentation)
• “Flame Spread on Black Poly (Methyl-Methacrylate) in Corner Configuration”, FAA 9th Triennial International Fire & Cabin Safety Research Conference, Atlantic City, NJ, Oct 2019 (oral presentation)