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Cross Laminated Timber Compartment Fire Tests

Research Overview

This study quantifies the contribution of CLT building elements to compartment fires and characterizes the effect of gypsum board on delaying or preventing involvement of the CLT in the fire under varied ventilation conditions. Six compartments (9.1 m long x 4.6 m wide x 2.7 m high) were assembled out of prefabricated CLT panels. Each panel was factory assembled using five plies of 35 mm thick lumber for a total thickness of 175 mm. A polyurethane adhesive was used to hold the plies together. The compartment had a rough opening in Wall W2 (front) of 1.8 m wide x 2.0 m high in four tests and 3.6 m wide x 2.0 m high in two tests. The inside of the compartments was fully or partially lined using multiple layers of 15.9-mm thick Type X gypsum board. Real residential contents and furnishings were used to provide a fire load density of 550 MJ/m2. The fire tests were conducted without sprinklers and without firefighting intervention. These experiments were conducted under the auspices of the Fire Protection Research Foundation in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada (project lead).

Experiment Name Plot of Heat Release Rate Ignition Photo Date/Time Sort descending Specimen Fuel Type Test Duration (min) Total Heat Released (MJ) Peak HRR (kW)
CornerTest1
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
room corner mockup Cellulose, Plastic
49.50
1,522
1,624
CornerTest2
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
room corner mockup Cellulose, Plastic
43.67
1,572
2,083
NGCal15m20MWburner
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
tube gas burner Natural Gas
53.82
28,734
23,535
NGCal15m20MWburner2
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
tube gas burner Natural Gas
46.67
22,938
22,018
CLT_Room_Test_1-1
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
furnished studio apartment Cellulose, Plastic
135.03
17,883
9,487
CLT_Room_Test_1-2
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
furnished studio apartment Cellulose, Plastic
107.63
18,541
12,451
CLT_Room_Test_1-3
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
furnished studio apartment, CLT wall Cellulose, Plastic
247.30
32,448
14,171
CLT_Room_Test_1-4
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
furnished studio apartment, CLT ceiling Cellulose, Plastic
175.73
35,941
13,114
CLT_Room_Test_1-5
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
furnished studio apartment, CLT wall Cellulose, Plastic
219.52
53,580
10,372
CLT_Room_Test_1-6
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
furnished studio apartment, CLT wall and ceiling Cellulose, Plastic
192.53
78,200
12,910

Bryant, R. and Bundy, M. The NIST 20 MW Calorimetry Measurement System for Large-Fire Research, Technical Note (NIST TN) 2077, 2019
https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2077

NIST Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD)
https://doi.org/10.18434/mds2-2314

Last Updated October 21, 2020