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SURFACE FLAMMABILITY OF VARIOUS WOOD-BASE BUILDING MATERIALS
2019/04/17
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Fire protection engineers have long realized that an important property of a building material is its surface flammability, or the ease with which flames may spread over its surface. Methods of measuring surface flammability have been developed but have not been standardized, and until recently few data were published.
Test Method：
The method of test was that described by Bruce and Miniutti in "Measuring Surface Flammability," ASTM Bulletin 230, of May 1958, and Forest Products Laboratory Report No. 2097, "Small Tunnel Furnace Test for Measuring Surface Flammability,"1957. In this test a specimen 14 inches wide by 8 feet long, conditioned to moisture equilibrium in an atmosphere at 30 percent relative humidity and 80° F., is laid in the furnace (fig. 1) and weighted down by a heavy cover, with asbestos millboard directly against its back. The progression of flame along the underside of the specimen is measured and expressed as an index number. Basis for this index is a rating of 100 for the progression of flame on select red oak flooring'39 pounds per cubic foot in density and a rating of 0 for progression on asbestos millboard.
Along with flame-spread rates, smoke density and heat contributed by the test specimen were also measured and expressed as index numbers relative to red oak and asbestos, as explained in the reports describing the test method.
Two tests were made on each material, with a third test when the results of the first two were not in adequate agreement.
Results：
The results of all tests are given in tables 1 through 5. The range in index values found for the several groups of materials is shown in table6. No attempt was made to analyze the results to explain the differences in the index values; to do so would require an intimate knowledge of the composition of the commercial materials and research on the effects of various ingredients. The tests, however, indicate the range in surface flammability that can be expected frxm the types of lumber and fabricdted boards tested, and now available for constriction purposes, as given by the Forest Products Laboratory 8-foot tunnel-furnace test.
In earlier tests, close correlation was found between results of the 8-foot tunnel tests and wall-corner tests, which simulate room fires, on 11 different materials. It is believed, therefore, that the results given in this report provide a realistic relative measure of the surface flammability of the various materials tested.
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