- Author
- Quintiere, J. G.
- Title
- Application and Interpretation of a Test Method to Determine the Hazard of Floor Covering Fire Spread in Building Corridors.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- CIB W14/27/75 (USA),
- Book or Conf
- University of Edinburgh Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Liaison with the Department of Fire Safety Engineering. Fire Safety of Combustible Materials. October 1975, England, 355-366 p., 1975
- Keywords
- test methods | fire spread | corridors | floors
- Abstract
- In recent years, much attention has been given to measuring the potential flame spread hazard of building corridors, in which a floor covering material is the only combustible present. The intention has been to develop standards for floor coverings which will limit corridor flame spread when the corridor is exposed to a large room fire. Under such circumstances, flame spread along the corridor floor is promoted by radiant heat transfer due to the room fire. The proposed test method measures the flame spread characteristics of a floor covering material under an external radiant heat flux. One parameter the test measures is the external heat flux at the point of extinguishment. This has been interpreted as the minimum or "critical" radiant heat flux required to support6 flame sprea. A theoretical model was developed to simulate the physical characteristics of the test method and sample materials. The test method can be applied to measure the potential hazard of building corridors with floor coverings by cvomparing the critical flux measured for a material with an anticipated corridor heat flux due to a large fire. Results are presented which display corridor floor heat flux for various room fire intensities. These results are compared to theoretical predictions which illustrate the effect of corridor geometry and fire conditions on heat flux to the floor.