Timber under real fire conditions - the influence of oxygen content and gas velocity on the charring behaviorShow others and affiliations
2018 (English)In: Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, ISSN 2040-2317, E-ISSN 2040-2325, Vol. 9, no 3, p. 222-236Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the influencing factors on the charring behaviour of timber, the char layer and the charring depth in non-standard fires. Design/methodology/approach – This paper summarizes outcomes of tests, investigating the influences on the charring behavior of timber by varying the oxygen content and the gas velocity in the compartment. Results show that charring is depending on the fire compartment temperature, but results show further that at higher oxygen flow, char contraction was observed affecting the protective function of the char layer. Findings – In particular, in the cooling phase, char contraction should be considered which may have a significant impact on performance-based design using non-standard temperature fire curves where the complete fire history including the cooling phase has to be taken into account. Originality/value – Up to now, some research on non-standard fire exposed timber member has been performed, mainly based on standard fire resistance tests where boundary conditions as gas flow and oxygen content especially in the decay phase are not measured or documented. The approach presented in this paper is the first documented fire tests with timber documenting the data required.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018. Vol. 9, no 3, p. 222-236
Keywords [en]
Char contraction, Charring, Fire resistance, Non-standard fire, Oxygen, Timber, Flammability testing, Flow of gases, Design/methodology/approach, Fire compartments, Influence of oxygen, Oxygen content, Performance based design, Protective function, Standard fire
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-33171DOI: 10.1108/JSFE-01-2017-0013Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85033589274OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-33171DiVA, id: diva2:1176601
2018-01-222018-01-222023-05-16Bibliographically approved