Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Fire-Resistant Coatings on Combustion and Flame Spread Characteristics by Medium Density Fiber Boards Commonly Used in Jordan

Abstract

The rate of flame spread on surfaces indicates how quickly the hazardous stages will be reached in low ventilation compartments. Building codes and standards want building authorities to achieve the minimum flame spread requirements. Several types of wood have been used in the series of conducted tests for this research since most of the furniture products in Jordan depend on it. Jordan imports all of its needs from natural wood at a high cost. Medium density fiberboard has become very popular in Jordan as an alternative source of wood. For comparison, white pine and Medium density fiberboard have been tested according to the methodology of American Society for Testing and Materials standard using lateral ignition and flame transport apparatus. Ignition experiments of treated wood with fire resistant paint have been performed. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of fire resistant paint on the performance of tested specimens by comparing ignitibility and flame spread parameters between unpainted and painted specimens. A comparison of six parameters that have been identified to demonstrate the capability of wood specimens to withstand a flame when fire resistant paint is applied will be presented. The sought parameters included are the minimum heat flux, the ignition time, the ignition parameter, the thermal inertia, the flame spread rate, and the peak heat release rate. The results have showed the propensity of specimens for flaming have been decreased with fire resistant paint. Flaming ignition temperature for pine specimen has been increased from 460 K to 530 K due to fire resistant painting. Furthermore, the flame of painted wood is weaker than the unpainted wood specimen while the flame spread parameter is lower for painted specimens. It has been 2.61 kW2/m3 for unpainted compared with 1.78 kW2/m3 for painted Medium density fiberboard.