Small‐scale assessment method for the fire resistance of historic plaster system and timber structures

Abstract

The primary protection against the charring of timber is ensured by protection materials. Today, there are only a limited number of materials given in design codes as fire protection materials for timber. Historic surface finish materials such as plasters have rarely been studied with respect to fire; no design values exist in the current fire part of Eurocode 5. Full‐scale fire testing is costly to assess the fire performance of material combinations, thus this study presents a useful tool that is specifically tailored to evaluate the fire protection ability of materials in small‐scale. A review of conducted tests demonstrate that the cone heater of a cone calorimeter is a dependable device to estimate the charring performance of protected timber specimens as the test results approximate the ones obtained from furnace tests. This work contributes to the assessment of fire resistance performance of various combinations and types of plaster systems found in existing timber buildings that often require an individual approach for an adequate fire risk analysis and design decisions to meet current fire safety regulations with respect to the load‐bearing capacity and compartmentation of building structures. Increased knowledge on the fire protection performance of traditional plasters is believed to facilitate their wider use in timber buildings, primarily to preserve their significance as part of the cultural built heritage.

Reflections on the Decay Mechanisms of Half-Timbered Walls in Traditional Spanish Architecture: Statistical Analysis of Material and Structural Damage

“…Given this risk situation affecting all traditional architecture, which is exposed to processes of cultural homogenisation, rural exodus, disappearing associated ways of life, loss of traditional constructive knowledge and, above all, the lack of value attached by owners and specialists, makes it necessary to preserve and promote the tangible and intangible materials still conserved. This is of particular importance in the specific case of half-timbered walls, especially given their location in increasingly depopulated areas [53][54][55], the general population's distrust of the structural capacity of timber, its behaviour in the event of fires [56,57] and the limited technical knowledge relating to its intervention, conservation and potential. Whereas in other countries with a presence of this type of constructive technique, measures are being developed for their enhancement, dissemination and conservation [58][59][60], along with the publication of specific restoration articles and manuals [36][37][38]40,[61][62][63][64][65][66], in Spain, there have been few instances of initiatives for ensuring the survival and valorisation of this type of heritage [67][68][69].…”

Fire Safe Use of Wood in Buildings - Global Design Guide

“…Thermal simulations require the thermal conductivity, specific heat and density at elevated temperatures as input for describing the material of each individual layer. Validated temperature-dependent effective material properties proposed for standard fire exposure are available in the literature or in standards for traditional products (Benichou et al, 2001;prEN 1995prEN -1-2, 2021Schleifer, 2009), including timber, wood-based panels, gypsum panels, mineral wool insulation and also bio-based insulation products, clay or screed (Liblik et al, 2019;Rauch et al, 2020;Winter et al, 2019). Such values can be obtained by complex numerical approaches using fire test data as validation (Mäger et al, 2016).…”