Fire tests for building materials

USA ANSl/ASTM D 1929-77 -ignition properties of plastics. Specified in some US Building Codes. This test is also known as the Setchkin test. A specimen 3 g in weight is assessed to determine the minimum temperature at which the vapour produced wilt ignite when subjected to a heated wire. 

BS 476 1968 Part 7 - surface spread offlame. Specified in Building Regulations in UK, Netherlands, Denmark and France. A 900 mm long specimen is mounted in front of a radiant panel in such a way as to be subjected to a specific hat intensity gradient. Six specimens of each material are tested and, if five show no more than 165 mm spread of flame and the sixth no more than 190 mm, the material is classified as Class 1. There is also a small-scale test, with specimens 300 mm long. Similar large-scale tests are described in NEN 3883 and DS 1058 3. NF P 92-506 can be compared with the small-scale test. 

NF P 92-503 - electric burner test. Specified in France as one of the tests for classification of building materials. A 600 x 180 mm specimen is mounted at 30° and subjected to heat from an electric burner, with a pilot flame impinging on the lower edge. The highest classification is given when the specimen flames for no more than five seconds and there is no flame spread. 

Nordtest NT Fire 002 - ignitability test. Specified in Scandinavia in conjunction with other tests to classify building materials. Two 800x300 mm specimens are placed vertically and parallel to each with 50 mm gap between them. A propane flame is applied to one until both burn. The highest classification is given if the specimen not exposed to the direct flame fails to ignite within 15 minutes. 

ISO 1182-1979 — non-combustibility test. Combustibility tests are normally used to classify building materials. In this test, a 45 mm diameter x 50 mm cylindrical specimen is heated in a tube furnace at 850°C for 20 minutes. Thermocouples measure the temperature of the furnace wall and interior and exterior temperatures of the specimen. It is classified an non-combustible if  

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ISO Tests. The evident solution in a situation like this would be to adopt the appropriate international standards, which the ISO Technical Committee TC 92 is charged with developing. Since 1961, this committee has been developing reaction to fire tests for building materials, with the aim of determining such parameters as ... 

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