Testing methods cone calorimetry

As a consequence of a very serious fire under the steel roofs in a large car plant in USA the Underwriters Laboratories Inc., developed a new UL test method, which uses oxygen consumption cone calorimetry to quantify roof covering materials. This test was used to quantify the contribution of roof covering materials to the fire under the roof by capturing effluent from beneath the roof assembly and recording the rate of heat production in kW/min. 

ISO 5660-1 (2002) Reaction-to-Fire Tests - Heat Release, Smoke Production and Mass Loss Rate - Part 1 Heat Release Rate (Cone Calorimetry Method). 

Limitations of applicability. In some tests, the overall behaviour is dependent on the possible spread of fire within the specimen area. An example is the SBI test in which heat release data are quite comparable with cone calorimetry if those from the product tested are such that it will not spread fire much beyond the area of highest exposure behind the flame in the SBI comer. However, this simple correlation is most probably not valid anymore for a product that will spread fire under the SBI method. 

While a complete survey of the testing techniques for flame retardants is beyond the scope of this chapter, testing methods such as cone calorimetry, the requirements of the UL 94 testing protocols, and radiant heat panels deserve mention here. 

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