Flooring-Radiant-Panel Test

Artificial surfaces must be resistant to cigarette bums, vandaUsm, and other harm. Fire resistance is most critically evaluated by the NBS flooring radiant panel test (10). In this test, a gas-fired panel maintains a heat flux, impinging on the sample to be tested, between 1.1 W/cm at one end and 0.1 W/cm at the other. The result of the bum is reported as the flux needed to sustain flame propagation in the sample. Higher values denote greater resistance to burning results depend on material and surface constmction. Polypropylene turf materials are characterized by critical radiant flux indexes which are considerably lower than those for nylon and acryflc polymers (qv) (11). 

In the Flooring-Radiant-Panel-Test of ASTM D 648-1978, a horizontally placed specimen of 230 mm x 1050 mm is exposed to a radiating body oriented at 30 deg. to the horizontal and an igniting flame. The radiation intensity at the surface of the specimen is 1.0 to 0.1 W/cm. Both heat sources operate for the first ten minutes of the test procedure until the specimen has inflamed. If not, the test is continued for another ten minutes with the radiator only. The lowest radiation intensity necessary for inflaming the specimen is determined. 

LA. Benjamin, and C.H. Adams, The Flooring Radiant Panel Test and Proposed Criteria , Fire Journal, 70 (2), 63—70, March 1976. 

Flooring radiant panel test ASTM E684... 

Hartzell, G. Development of a Radiant Panel Test for Flooring Materials. NBSIR 74-495, National Bureau of Standards Washington, DC, 1974. 

Flooring products are also be tested by two further tests including the floor radiant panel, while non-flooring products of appreciable combustibility, in classes E and F, are tested by an existing small burner test. 

The NBS (currently the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST) conducted a series of full-scale fire tests in the 1970s to investigate the fire hazard of floor coverings.63 The main concern was flame spread from a fire room to a connected corridor. This work resulted in the development of the radiant flooring panel test. This test is described in ASTM E 648. 

Measurement of flame spread under external heat flux is necessary where the thermal radiation is likely to impinge on the textile materials, for example, the flooring material of the building or transport vehicles whose upper surfaces are heated by flames or hot gases, or both. The French test method, NF P 92-503 Bruleur Electrique or M test involves radiant panel for testing flame spread of flexible textile materials. This test method (flame spread under external heat flux) is the basis of that used by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) for assessing flammability of textile composites used in thermal/acoustic insulation materials (FAR 25.856 (a)) used in aircraft and has also been included by the EU for fire test approval of floorings such as prEN ISO 9239 and BS ISO 4589-1. 

Pill Test) E 648 (Radiant Panel Flooring Test) ... 

Floor coverings are tested by the radiant panel method, which is already in use in most European countries. The test methods for determining the calorific value and to confirm the nature of noncombustible materials (currently Class A building materials in Germany) are also well established and have been modified only slightly for the European classification system. 

Typical Examples of Fire Tests. The following two examples are commonly used tests that illustrate two distinct approaches to simulate the thermal exposure conditions in a pre-flashover compartment fire. The steiner tunnel test uses a gas burner to heat the specimen primarily by convection. The radiant flooring panel test relies on a gas-fired panel that exposes a flooring specimen to a radiant heat flux profile. 

The Radiant Flooring Panel Test apparatus consists of an air-gas-fiieled radiant heat panel inclined at 30° to and directed at a horizontally mounted floor covering system specimen. The radiant panel generates a heat flux distribution along the 1-m length of the test specimen from a nominal maximum of 10 kW/m (1 W/cm ) to a minimum of 1 kW/m (0.1 W/cm ). The test is initiated by open-flame ignition from a pilot burner. The heat flux at the location of maximum flame propagation is reported as the critical radiant flux. 

The radiant flooring panel test. Photo Courtesy of Fire Testing Technology ... 

The Ohio State University (OSU) release rate apparatus consists of a chamber 35 X16 X 8 in., with a top section shaped like a pyramid connected to an outlet. The chamber contains an electrically heated radiant panel, a gas-fired radiant panel, or electrically heated elements. This test offers the flexibility of orienting the specimen either vertically or horizontally to simulate wall and floor applications (13). A photocell and a light source positioned above the outlet measures the light absorption. 

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