A Fire Resistance Test Furnace for Vertical surfaces is a device that is necessary to assess the fire performance of walls, doors or other upright elements within buildings. Fire tests are conducted to demonstrate that materials and components will continue to operate in fire for a given period, without spreading of flames preventing the structural integrity of components in case of an emergency.
In the space, fire resistance of materials is a function of the relative exposure temperature, material and design strength, and test duration; vertical tests represent a specific human scenario (Figure-1) where ASTM E119 and ISO 834 standards require that certain elements retain their integrity and insulation for periods ranging from 30 minutes to 4 hours. This high-level instrumented test furnace can uniquely measure all critical parameters-required for heat transfer and materials deformation stipulated by fire safety regulation with a high degree of precision.
Fire resistance test furnaces are used to replicate the effects of fire on vertical structures. The furnace is accurate within ±10°F, providing repeatable temperatures to evaluate material performance under extended heat loading. In 2022, a vertical fire test showed that horizontal openings could be isolated in the interior of an associates building when adds are called for horizontally andvicated it up to 90 minutes if needed.
Fire-resistance tests of vertical elements are more often addressed by building codes. For example, in the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, inadequate fire-resistant materials caused flames to propagate rapidly and cause massive death and devastation. This led to more stringent worldwide standards and regulations which also demonstrated the need for reliable equipment used in a test.
More modern ages of Furnaces provide Data Acquisition Systems to measure the Live Parameters such as Heat Flux, Temperature Gradients & Material Behaviour. These may operate at a very high sampling rate, many times per second and over 1,000 readings per second are possible to better understand how materials behave. This level of accuracy assists manufactures in the creation of above code compliant materials that can improve an entire structure’s fire safety.
Testing is the Origin of Standards: “There can be no safety without standards, and standards have to start with testing,” said fire safety advocate Dan Madrzykowski. As a further corollary, vertical fire resistance tests adhere to this principle by confirming that walls and doors work effectively in all situations on which the materials are primarily focused – protecting lives and property.
The cost of failures at fire resistance is much bigger than the investment in test equipment. This is not an expensive prospect — even though a commercial fire can carry more than $10 million in damages, testing accounts for far less. Discover the benefits of a Vertical Fire Resistance Test Furnace and how it helps in building safety and compliance.