- Author
-
Budnick, E. K.
|
Klein, D. P.
|
O'Laughlin, R. J.
- Title
- Mobile Home Bedroom Fire Studies: The Role of Interior Finish.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBSIR 78-1531,
September 1978,
108 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900; Rush Service (Telephone Orders Only) 800-553-6847; Website: http://www.ntis.gov
- Keywords
-
ASTM E84
|
tunnel tests
|
fire growth
|
fire tests
|
flame spread
|
flashover
|
interior finishes
|
life safety
|
mattresses
|
mobile homes
|
radiant heating
|
room fires
|
upholstered furniture
- Abstract
- A series of nine full-scale fire tests was conducted in the master bedroom of a typically constructed single-wide mobile home to (1) evaluated the effect of a variety of combinations of wall and ceiling materials on fire growth and spread the the production of smoke and toxic gases when exposed to an incidental fire, and (2) determine the relationship between the surface flame spread properties of the interior finish material as determined by the ASTM E-84 Tunnel Test and behavior of the materials under actual full-scale conditions. The primary fire scenario selected was the exposure of the interior finish materials to an incidental fire from a burning upholstered chair in a corner in the master bedroom. Performance of the various combinations of wall and ceiling materials was evaluated on the basis of (1) whether and at what time flashover was reached, and (2) changes in the environment outside the bedroom which adversely affect life safety. Measurements included gas temperatures, irradiance, concentrations of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, oxygen depletion, and smoke densities. Supplemental testing indicated that while the fire properties of the interior finish materials played a dominant role in spreading an incidental fire from a chair, the impact of the interior finish materials was less evident when the expsoure fire was from the burning of a polyurethane mattress, which provided an exposure fire of greater intensity. When a bed was used instead of the chair as the initial burning item, flashover occurred in the room from involvement of the mattress and bedding materials, with no apparent contirubtion from the low flame spread interior finish.