A Study on the Cone Calorimeter Evaluation Method of Sandwich Panels

Fires in buildings built using sandwich panels are difficult to extinguish, and the damage caused by the fire spreading through the inner core material is extensive. Sandwich panels consist of a nonflammable material on both sides of an insulation material. The types of insulation material include organic and inorganic insulation materials, but the former are used in more than 80% of the case. Organic insulation is economically advantageous compared to inorganic insulation, but it is vulnerable to fire. Therefore, the damage caused by sandwich panel fires is higher than that for general fires. In the case of the noxious gas analyzer test, the panel is tested with three round holes having a diameter of 25 mm, in order to determine the risk of the core material, but the cone calorimeter test is carried out using a sandwich panel. In this study, the cone calorimeter test was conducted to examine the fire risk of the composite material when heated on a nonflammable surface, exposed to the core material through a hole, and heated directly the core material. The type of organic insulation employed was flame retardant EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), and the test specimens were tested in three types of sandwich panel, a perforated sandwich panel and single core material. The purpose of this study is to propose a method of measuring the fire risk of the core materials of composite materials using the cone calorimeter test.