- Author
- Son, B. C.
- Title
- Fire Endurance Test of Plywood-Faced Exterior Walls for Single Family Housing. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC
- Report
- NBSIR 73-140, March 1973, 25 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Contract
- IAA-H-16-70
- Keywords
- fire endurance | fire tests | Operation Breakthrough
- Abstract
- As a part of the testing and evaluation activities in Operation BREAKTHROUGH, a standard fire test conforming to ASTM E 119 was performed at the National Bureau of Standards on a wall assembly where half represented a nonbearing single exterior wall (as found in single family) and the other half represented a nonbearing double wall assembly for an interdwelling separation which would occur at the interface of two parallel adjacent modules. Each wall contained a layer of gypsum board as an interior (room) surface and a layer of plywood as an exterior surface, and was framed with nominal 2 x 4 in. wood studs on 16 in. centers. No structural load was applied during the test. The fire endurance of the single wall was 43 min. The initial mode of failure was by excessive average temperature rise on the unexposed surface of the wall. Although the test results of the interdwelling wall were inconclusive, its fire endureance was considered to be 1 hr. 02 min. This fire endurance was based on visual observation during the test and was the time when the gypsum board on the unexposed side was observed to separate from the wood studs.