Materials identification in comparison of results among fire scaling and flammability studies

• Published in: Journal of fire sciences Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 528 - 529
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-11-2016
• Subjects: fire test specimens; fire scaling; fire test methods; fire model validation; Fire data comparison; material identification
• ISSN: 0734-9041; 1530-8049
• DOI: 10.1177/0734904116671330

There is concern about comparing fire test results from different apparatus and from multiple laboratories in which the tested materials and products in a generic group are assumed to be identical, when they are often quite different. The use of such results can adversely affect the acceptability of a test method and the validity of the computational models used to simulate fire hazard and risk. Three International Standards Organization subcommittees (ISO TC92 SC1, Fire Initiation and Growth; ISO TC92 SC3, Fire Threat to People and the Environment; and ISO TC61 SC4, Plastics—Burning Behaviour) contend that the comparison of gas yields (and perhaps other fire properties, such as ignition delay time and heat release rate) is only proper among studies in which the test specimens are from a single, uniform batch or if it is assured that any differences in composition do not affect the test outcome significantly.