Experimental investigations of the fire behaviour of facades with EPS exposed to different fire loads

In context of recent fire damages to facades and the related discussion about the safety of facade systems in case of fire, there is a need for discussion about the boundary conditions and the phenomena of facade fires based on fundamental investigation. On behalf of the European Institute for Fire Protection (EIFP) four major fire tests were carried out on a flat facade with external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) based on polystyrene with fire loads at the ground in front of the facade [1]. The tests were conducted at the Materialprufanstalt Dresden based in Freiberg. The tests differ to the fire tests of the German building ministers in case of different fire loads and the corner-situation of the studied facade. The four fire tests are a step in systematic investigations to study examination criteria of the fire phenomena at facades. Further experimental and numerical investigations will follow. Language: en