Fire safety concern for timber partition in the Far East (original) (raw)
Related papers
Assessment of fire behaviour of timber partition materials with a room calorimeter
International Journal on Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes, 2007
Fire behaviour of timber partition materials were assessed in a room calorimeter with size following ISO 9705. Fourteen full-scale burning tests on timber materials used in the local industry with and without paint, wallpaper, fiberglass and fire retardant were carried out. The heat release rate, surface temperature of materials, upper layer gas temperature, floor heat flux and time to flashover were recorded. Flame spreading over the materials was observed. Results are useful for comparing the flame spreading behaviour of different surfacing and insulating material with and without fire retardants. It is observed that materials with rapid flame spreading rate might not necessarily give a shorter time to flashover. The performance of fire retardant depends on the substrate and the orientation of the materials.
International Journal on Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes, 2005
Fire behaviour of timber partition materials were assessed in a room calorimeter with size following ISO 9705. Fourteen full-scale burning tests on timber materials used in the local industry with and without paint, wallpaper, fiberglass and fire retardant were carried out. The heat release rate, surface temperature of materials, upper layer gas temperature, floor heat flux and time to flashover were recorded. Flame spreading over the materials was observed. Results are useful for comparing the flame spreading behaviour of different surfacing and insulating materials with and without fire retardants. It is observed that materials with rapid flame spreading rate might not necessarily give a shorter time to flashover. The performance of fire retardant depends on the substrate and the orientation of the materials.
Assessment of timber partition materials with fire retardants with a room calorimeter
International Journal on Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes, 2004
Treating combustibles with suitable fire retardants can improve their fire behaviour, say limiting the rate of flame spread. There are requirements on treating materials such as polyurethane foam with fire retardants in the local legislations. To understand behaviours of burning those fire retarded materials under real fires, more indepth studies should be carried out with fire scenarios due to accidental or arson. Three different types of fire retardants commonly used were assessed by full-scale burning tests. The fire retardants were applied to the surface of chipboard partitions. Wallpaper was also tested over chipboard to investigate its effects on flame spread. Those products were tested under an accidental fire and a flashover fire in a room calorimeter. Ten full-scale burning tests were conducted and the results on the heat release rate, floor heat flux, upper layer gas temperature, surface temperature over materials and temperature profiles inside the room and at the doorway of the room will be reported in this paper.
Active Fire Safety Measures in the Heritage Timber Buildings in Malaysia
PLANNING MALAYSIA
Malaysia has a significant amount of heritage timber buildings located in every part of the country. The buildings symbolised the origin of the country’s vernacular architectural style as well as the historical representation of the local community culture and its surrounding context. However, due to the combustible nature of timber, these heritage timber buildings are highly exposed to the risks of fire. Currently, there are no proper fire safety guidelines specifically for heritage buildings which can act as a good reference for the building owners or conservators in safeguarding the heritage buildings. The purpose of this study is to identify existing active fire safety measures in selected heritage timber buildings in Malaysia. The study was conducted through literature findings and observation of four selected heritage timber buildings. The study had identified that all four heritage timber buildings were equipped with very basic active fire safety measures.
Wood, used as a building construction material, offers a range of advantages in terms of cost, time for construction, energy efficiency and sustainability. Modern timber construction is able to exhibit high anti-seismic and fire-safety performance, which is at least on a par with more “conventional” construction techniques (e.g. concrete, steel). Fire safety regulations have a major impact on the overall design of buildings with regard to layout, aesthetics, function and cost. In order to achieve the fire resistance requirements proposed in fire safety regulations, a fire protection cladding is commonly applied to load-bearing timber building elements. There are scarce literature reports of full-scale natural fire tests focused on the fire behavior of load-bearing timber building elements [1, 2]. In this context, the current work aims to investigate the behaviour of two contemporary timber construction systems exposed to realistic fire conditions. A full-scale natural fire test is performed, using a test compartment, measuring 2220mm x 2220mm x 2110mm; an open window, measuring 430mm x 960mm, provides adequate ventilation for the compartment (Figure 1). The Light Timber Frame (LTF) and the Glued Laminated Timber (GLT) construction systems are utilized in the test compartment. A symmetrical layout is utilized; LTF is used in two vertical walls (S, W) and the ceiling, whereas GLT is used in the remaining vertical walls (N, E) and the floor. The test compartment is built following the Eurocode 5 design guidelines. Timber studs and battens are used for the frame of the LTF walls, with plywood panels serving as the “sheathing” material. The GLT walls are formed using pre-fabricated 5-layer CLT panels. In both wall types, a layer of rock wool insulation is used, as well as a final fire protection cladding, comprising two 12.5 mm fire resistant gypsum plasterboard panels, according to relevant energy and fire regulations. The test compartment is externally clad with decorative horizontal timber battens.
Structural Timber In Compartment Fires – The Timber Charring and Heat Storage Model
Open Engineering, 2021
The influence of exposed timber surfaces on compartment fires has been well documented in various studies in recent decades. Yet available design concepts still typically neglect the influence of an additional fire load from linear structural timber elements such as beams and columns. As rules for large shares of exposed timber surfaces, e.g. by panels, are rare, authorities and fire safety engineers demand often mock-up compartment fire experiments to estimate the fire safety of a particular design. Such experiments, however, are costly, time consuming, and give limited insights into the potential fire scenarios and may fail to represent properly the fundamental effects arising from exposed structural timber elements in a fire. An approach to overcome these existing limitations is presented, which is able to estimate the contributions from structural timber to a fire from its fully developed- and decay phase until burnout. The model input is developed from an experimental campaign ...
Fire Safe Use of Wood in Buildings - Global Design Guide
2023
Building codes around the globe dictate the design and construction of buildings. For most buildings, designers will follow prescriptive code provisions to demonstrate code compliance. However, some building codes allow the use of performance-based design to demonstrate code compliance. Performance-based design is usually more complex but allows for greater flexibility in the selection of materials and systems. Regardless of the code compliance methods, the combustibility of timber structures and wood products needs to be well-understood and properly accounted for in building designs. This paper describes the development of a new international guidance document on fire safety in timber buildings within the Fire Safe Use of Wood (FSUW) network, written by 13 lead authors assisted by more than 20 experts in over a dozen different countries.