FIRE PERFORMANCE OF ARCHAIC MATERIALS. prof. Papaioannou Kyriakos ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY

Transcription

1 FIRE PERFORMANCE OF ARCHAIC MATERIALS prof. Papaioannou Kyriakos ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY 139

2 Summary The term archaic material is Greek- American orientated and means a construction or a material of an earlier time, generally prior to The fire performance of these elements in relation to the modern fire and building Codes requirements is examined, since there is not always an easy way to determine the fire related properties of those elements. 140

3 1. Introduction 141 Fire Codes and Regulations usually refer to the design of modern buildings and their primary objectives are life safety and property protection Historic buildings are existing structures and require wider priorities than modern buildings such as: Contents protection, with emphasis to those with artistic and cultural value Protection of the fabric, consisting of the old and/or the restored construction Prevention of conflagrations, in the case of larger area

4 Introduction (cont.) The rate of growth of a fire in an enclosure depends upon the following factors: Contents (ignitability, smoke production, distribution, rate of heat release) Linings (surface spread of flame,absorptivity) Compartment (size, shape, fire resistance, ventilation conditions) Interaction between contents, linings and room boundaries. Documentation of archaic materials fire performance is not readily available. The application of engineering judgment is rather difficult because building designers and officials may not always familiar with the materials fire properties 142

5 2. FIRE PERFORMANCE MEASURES Fire resistance The standard fire resistance tests Non-standard small-scale tests Tabulated data Analytical methods Ten Rules of Fire Endurance Ratings T.Z. Harmathy (Canada) May,

6 Ten Rules of Fire Endurance Ratings Rule 1: The thermal fire endurance of a construction consisting of a number of parallel layers is greater than the sum of the thermal fire endurance characteristic of the individual layers when exposed separately to fire. Rule 2: The fire endurance of a construction does not decrease with the addition of further layers. Rule 3: The fire endurance of constructions containing continuous air gaps or cavities is greater than the fire endurance of similar constructions of the same weight, but not containing air gaps or cavities. 144

7 145 Penetrations in Fire Resistant Assemblies Fire doors There are too many unknown variables which could affect the fire performance of the door. It is often possible to upgrade the fire performnce of an existing door. Gypsum wallboard Intumescent paints

8 DEVELOPMENT AND PROPAGATION OF FIRE Development and propagation of a fire in a comparment covers the period between the initial ignition until a broadly constant rate of burning occurs. In general, building Authorities are concerned with surface materials, mainly those lining internal spaces (e.g. rooms, escape routes) but also including external surfaces (facades,roofs). 146

9 Existing test methods The need for harmonized test methods to reduce barriers to trade. The development of the second generation test methods A. Linings Ignitability test BS 476: Part 12 Spread of flame BS 476: Part 7 Fire propagation BS 476: Part 6 B. Furniture Ignitability BS 5852: Part 1,2 C. Furnishings Flammability BS 5438 Ignitability BS 4790 Smoke and toxicity 147

10 European reaction to fire standard tests The fire classification of construction products and building elements The classes for construction products are 7 (A1, A2, B, C, D, E, and F) Non-combustibility test (pren ISO 1182:2000) Gross calorific potential (pren ISO 1716:1998) Single burning item test (pren13823:2000) Ignitability test (pren ISO :1998) Burning behaviour of floorings (pren ISO :1998) 148