Prediction of the insulating capability of building products in fire conditions would support the product development process. Stone wool insulation is a widely used material in fire barrier constructions. Due to the combustion of its organic content, the temperature inside stone wool can rise above the temperature of the exposed boundary. This temperature rise is difficult to predict. An extensive test program was performed to obtain the thermal and reaction kinetic properties of stone wool. The test methods included modified slug calorimeter, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, micro-scale combustion calorimetry and bomb calorimetry. The thermal conductivity in elevated temperatures was similar for all the investigated products. Two positive mass loss rate and heat release rate peaks were observed in temperatures between 20°C and 700°C. Reaction kinetic parameters were obtained and used in a finite difference model predicting the temperature increase in stone wool upon linear heating.

This paper presents the experimental results of stone wool layered sandwich constructions, with either steel or gypsum claddings, tested under four different heating exposures: a 7 kW/m 2 incident radiant heat flux exposure, a 60 kW/m 2 incident radiant heat flux exposure, a parametric timetemperature curve exposure, and the ISO 834 standard time-temperature exposure. The test apparatus used were: a movable radiant panel system, a mid-scale furnace (1.5 m 3), and a largescale furnace (15 m 3). The results show that reduced-scale tests are capable of reproducing the heat transferred through the construction at large scale provided there is limited mechanical degradation. The results indicate that the availability of oxygen is fundamental to the fire behaviour of the sandwich composites tested. Reactions occurring in stone wool micro-scale testing, such as oxidative combustion of the binder or crystallization of the fibres, have a limited effect on the temperature increase when wool is protected from air entrainment.

This report presents experimental investigations of the performance of cold-formed steel lateral force-resisting systems (CFS-LRFS) under combinations of simulated earthquake and fire loading. Three types of shear wall systems are investigated: gypsum-sheet steel composite panel sheathed walls, oriented strand board (OSB) sheathed walls, and steel strap braced walls. Twenty-two 2.7 m tall by 3.7 m long test specimens are subjected sequentially to combinations of mechanical (cyclic shear deformation) and thermal (fire) load. The mechanical loading setup and protocol are based on ASTM E2126 Method C. Fire loads of varying intensity that represent the characteristics of actual fires are investigated. The work is a step toward developing fragility curves (representations of the probability of exceeding a given damage state as a function of an engineering demand parameter) for these systems for use in performance-based design for fire.

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