Full Scale Fire Tests of Upholstered Furniture with Rate of Heat Release Measurements

Abstract

In this study 10 sets of fully upholstered chairs were tested in the California Bureau of Home Furnishings (CBHF) test room, ASTM room and furniture calorimeter. The rooms were instrumented identically. Replicate tests were conducted with the newspaper and gas burner ignition sources. The test results from the two rooms and furniture calorimeter were compared. A correlation between the ceiling temperature and heat release rate was obtained. A peak heat release criterion and an absolute mass loss criterion for TB133 were adopted. It was found that similar results can be obtained in the CBHF room and in the ASTM room. Results from regular TB133 tests at CBHF were also compared with the data from the 10 sets of chairs. The agreements were satisfactory.