PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ON FIRE BEHAVIOUR OF TIMBER PARTITION MATERIALS WITH A ROOM CALORIMETER

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.