Premium
Fire retardants and fire safety how can tests reflect reality?
Author(s) -
Becker Wolfram
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
makromolekulare chemie. macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 0258-0322
DOI - 10.1002/masy.19930740127
Subject(s) - action (physics) , fire safety , fire test , test (biology) , fire protection , flash (photography) , architectural engineering , forensic engineering , work (physics) , environmental science , aeronautics , engineering , civil engineering , mechanical engineering , ecology , art , physics , quantum mechanics , visual arts , biology
In the standard test methods, the thermal action proceeds even today in most cases under the conditions of the well ventilated fire. The intensity of the thermal action varies widely, however, depending on the designed safety level. In the last few years, the outstanding purpose was to test the behaviour of products under the action of fire, in particular the time to the flash‐over. The intensity of the fire action rises accordingly, despite the possibility of further free ventilation, to such a degree that the test conditions in laboratory processes can reflect reality only under certain conditions. This philosophy is drawn from the results of statistical investigations in the U.S. is that the time to the flash‐over in a room is equal to the time to untenability, because most of the victims of the fire were not present in the room where the fire broke out. Test methods on a real scale that serve this designed safety level will therefore have to work with the high fire action on the products to be tested. In contrast, however, in some European countries the philosophy underlying the adoption of designed safety levels is that the main purpose is to protect human beings who are present in the room where the fire breaks out. According to this philosophy, a fire development that threatens to become dangerous must always be prevented. Consequently, interest is focused mainly on restricting the spread of fire and thus preventing a flash‐over. The test methods to be designed with this purpose in view should, therefore, simulate the conditions of the starting fire or the developing fire. The efficiency of a fire retardant can then be evaluated according to whether the fire spread is restricted or not. Under these conditions, the question of the time to be flash‐over is of no significance. With standard tests, it is impossible to make a statement as to how far the fire safety of products can be improved by the use of fire retardants unless the safety‐relevant range of application for the test method has been defined.