FireDOC Search

Author
Harmathy, T. Z. | Porteous, E. O.
Title
Sampling Method for Measuring the Moisture Distribution in Fire Test Specimens.
Coporate
National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Report
NRCC 42, July 1963, 8 p.
Keywords
fire tests | sampling | building construction | moisture | humidity
Abstract
In 1959 a new requirement was introduced in the ASTM standard on fire tests of building constructions, according to which a specimen cannot be subjected to fire test until its maximum "dampness" becomes lower than 75 per cent, in terms of relative humidity. Although in its present form, this "moisture requirement" is still rather vague, the realization that moisture, inevitably present in almost any building material, offers a serious problem to the reproducibility of fire test results and that more refined techniques should be used for its measurement and control, should be regarded as a very important step in the right direction.