Table 3 Indices of the core temperature–time and vapor pressure–time curves

t₁

Time at which the core temperature reaches 100 °C (in initial stage)

T_p

Temperature point at which the absolute value of the slopes of the tangential lines at each time point after 100 °C on the temperature–time curve becomes the first local minimum (in intermediate stage)

t₂

Figure 4a: time at which the core temperature is 3% higher than at the last intersection between the tangential line at T_p and the core temperature curve (in intermediate stage)

Figure 4b: time at which the core temperature is minimized after T_p (in intermediate stage)

t₃

Time at which the core temperature reaches 180 °C (in later stage)

VP_max

Maximum core vapor pressure

t_s

Time at which the core vapor pressure starts to increase

t_m

Time at which the core vapor pressure reaches VP_max

VP_rate

Rate of vapor generation and vapor flow to the mat core, calculated as VP_rate = VP_max/(t_m−t_s)