PERFORMANCE OF MODULAR TIMBER ASSEMBLY IN FIRE CONDITIONS

In the construction industry, timber has many economic and ecological benefits when compared to steel and concrete. One of the main reasons that many building codes rigorously prohibit the use of timber as a building material is its combustibility. In the current construction industry several methods are adopted to reduce the combustibility factors of timber, such as providing fire-resistant lining materials or modular timber materials with better fire performance ratings. A typical prescriptive design following regulatory codes uses a standard fire curve for determining the resistance to fire or performance characteristics of the building materials. This approach is not appropriate in the case of modular timber assembly design. A combination of prescriptive and performance-based design is considered the best method for a modular timber building design (Pettersson Carl 2020). The performance characteristics of the modular timber assembly can be evaluated by full-scale tests, micro tests and numerical calculations using fire models. This study focuses on micro tests conducted on the components of the modular timber assembly using Thermogravimetry (TGA), Cone Calorimeter and Fourier- transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for evaluating performance characteristics such as degradation, flammability and toxicity. The results from these tests are compared and further evaluated using Ozone and Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) software for different compartment configurations, for analysing the overall compartment temperature and temperature gradient through the lining materials of the modular timber assembly. The results from the FDS analysis were then compared with the micro experimental test results.