Flame heights and charring on a particle board – An experimental study

Abstract

Vertically oriented particle-board samples were exposed to external venting flames to study the fire spread and charring behaviour along a timber façade. Variation in flame height and the height, volume, area, density, and depth of the char layer were studied to determine the impact of heat-release rate and experiment duration. There was a peak flame height after which the flame returned to steady height approximately equal to the value before the ignition of the particle board and flame heights with inert panels. Flames did not spread to the top of the panel with increased experiment duration. Char height and area were found to increase with heat-release rate but were not affected significantly by experiment duration. Char depth and volume increased with both experiment duration and heat-release rates. Char density decreased with increased experiment duration and heat-release rate.