Estimation of Thermal Radiation in Bed Mattresses

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments on applsci-1418509

The present study examined the fire risk of mattresses according to the mattress installation height. Generally speaking, the work is of great importance. So there are some questions for better clarification:

1.     Line 129, as the authors said “as the mattress installation height increased, the heat was released more strongly and rapidly”, please explain why.

2.     The accuracy of Full-Scale Fire Test is under further confirmation. Have the authors repeated the experiment ? Please provide the standard deviation, if possible.

3.     Please improve the English writing of the manuscript.

Author Response

"Please see the attachment."

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

In this interesting study, the influence of mattress height above ground and its effect on heat release and radiative losses are measured and calculated. The reviewer has several concerns that should be addressed before publication is possible.

1) Why were the heat flux meters placed parallel with the top of the mattress and pointed directly upwards? Instead, would it have been better to orient the flux gauges perpendicular to the mattress and point them towards the location of the flame?

2) How is the HRR calculated? This approach should be included in the methods section

3) For Figures 4, 5 and 6, consider using the same line types across all three figures for each mattress height. Also, these figures would benefit from enlargement. Finally, it is currently difficult to tell the lines apart. Is there a different labeling scheme the authors could use to indicate what each line represents?

4) On Figure 6b, the y axis should stop at 6 instead of going up to 10

5) Where did Equation 4 come from? Is this a reference or derived by the authors? Either way, more details must be provided regarding this equation.

Author Response

"Please see the attachment." 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx