SEDL / STP / STP826-EB / STP31893S

Evaluation of Fire Resistive Coatings Based on Small-Scale Fire Testing

Schultz, N
Executive director, VTEC Laboratories, Inc., Bronx, N. Y.

Pages: 12    Published: Jan 1983

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Abstract

Economics and short-time factors have forced many manufacturers of fire resistive coatings to use small-scale fire tests in accordance with ASTM Standard Method of Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials (E 119-81) time-temperature curve. The difference between small-size and full-size furnaces is not so much in the geometry as it is in the construction. Insulation, burners, and fuel type are influencing factors when making a comparative analysis. The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) used a full-size column furnace and a small-column furnace in one of their programs. The correlation between data was substantial enough to focus the attention on using the small furnace as a valid means of testing.

Within the same scenario of small-scale testing, a high intensity fire test (HIFT) is established to simulate a petroleum spill fire. It is being used by the petrochemical industry and fire resistive coating manufacturers to evaluate materials under reproducible simulated thermal conditions of a petrochemical fire.