Effects of exposed cross laminated timber on compartment fire dynamics

Rory M. Hadden*, Alastair I. Bartlett, Juan P. Hidalgo, Simón Santamaria, Felix Wiesner, Luke A. Bisby, Susan Deeny, Barbara Lane

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

A series of compartment fire experiments has been undertaken to evaluate the impact of combustible cross laminated timber linings on the compartment fire behaviour. Compartment heat release rates and temperatures are reported for three configuration of exposed timber surfaces. Auto-extinction of the compartment was observed in one case but this was not observed when the experiment was repeated under identical condition. This highlights the strong interaction between the exposed combustible material and the resulting fire dynamics. For large areas of exposed timber linings heat transfer within the compartment dominates and prevents auto-extinction. A framework is presented based on the relative durations of the thermal penetration time of a timber layer and compartment fire duration to account for the observed differences in fire dynamics. This analysis shows that fall-off of the charred timber layers is a key contributor to whether auto-extinction can be achieved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)480-489
Number of pages10
JournalFire Safety Journal
Volume91
Early online date19 May 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2017

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Combustible linings
  • Compartment fires
  • Fire growth
  • Protection of wood

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