Fire Performance Properties of Solid Wood and Lignocellulose-Plastic Composite Deck Boards

Abstract

Traditionally fire performance properties of externally located deck boards have been characterized by their flame spread index (FSI) as determined by UL 723/ASTM E 84. In this test a nominal 0.6 m wide by 7.3 m long array of deck boards is exposed to an approximately 90 kW ignition source fire for 10 min in the Steiner Tunnel. More recently the University of California Forest Products Laboratory developed a new fire test protocol based the principles of oxygen consumption calorimetry, California SFM 12-7A-4, Part A: Under-Deck Flame Test. This protocol addresses the potential ignition of a deck from underneath as may occur during a wildfire. In this protocol a nominal 0.44 square meter deck-system of deck boards mechanically fastened to wood joists is subjected to an 80 kW ignition source fire for 3 min. For this study the fire performance characteristics of more than thirty-five deck board types were evaluated by the above two methods and by a smaller-scale material-based test, ASTM E 1354 cone calorimeter. Deck boards were selected to represent a range of materials (untreated wood, lignocellulose-polymer composite), structures (solid, voided, microcellular foam), and cross-sectional profiles (width, thickness, presence of hidden fastener system longitudinal edge grooves). The results from this study were used to: 1. Develop correlations for deck boards between the material-based cone calorimeter tests and system-based under-deck tests. 2. Develop correlations for deck boards between the small-scale cone calorimeter tests and large-scale Steiner Tunnel tests. 3. Estimate the significance of ASTM D 2898 Method A accelerated weathering on fire performance.