Assessment and Prediction of Fire Risk Grades of Wood Species in Different Storage Environments

Abstract

In this study, the fire risk index of different wood species used in construction was calculated using Chung's equations-II, Chung's equations-III, and Chung's equation-IV. The test specimens were from larch, Russian ash, sapele, and camphor tree. Their fire characteristics were evaluated using a cone calorimeter according to ISO 5660-1. After combustion, the fire performance index-II (FPI-II) of the specimens, as calculated by Chung's equations, varied between 1.56 and 8.12 s<sup>2</sup>/kW, and the fire growth index-II (FGI-II) varied between 0.03 and 0.23 kW/s<sup>2</sup>. The fire performance index-III (FPI-III) based on polymethylmetacrylate varied between 5.27 and 27.36, and the fire growth index-III (FGI-III) varied between 0.20 and 1.58. The fire risk index-IV (FRI-IV), which is the fire risk grade, showed that Russian ash and camphor tree have a high fire risk, with FRI-IV values of 0.27 and 0.30, respectively. Therefore, wood species that contain volatile compounds or have a low bulk density have a high FRI-IV value owing to decreased FPI-II and FPI-III and increased FGI-II and FGI-III.