THERMAL INSULATION OF SINGLE LEAF FIRE DOORS, Test results comparison in standard temperature-time fire scenario for different types of doorsets

Abstract

Fire resistant door assemblies (doors) for pedestrian or industrial traffic with frame, leaf or leaves, rolled or folded curtain etc. are designed for installation in the openings of the building's vertical internal partitions. The building and its associated equipment shall be designed and made so that in case of fire it ensures the necessary load bearing capacity of the structure for the time specified in national regulations, limitation of fire and smoke propagation within the building, limitation of fire propagation onto the adjacent buildings and evacuation of people, and it provides safety of the rescue teams. The mentioned requirements are not usually considered individually (e.g. ensuring proper evacuation is connected with the structural load bearing capacity, fire and smoke propagation within the building, and rescue team safety), therefore individual elements of buildings can play several roles during a fire. This also refers to the building elements such as doors which are usually required in terms of design and execution to ensure that in case of fire they shall, for a specific period of time prevent its development from the room or a specific zone where the fire started to other rooms or zones, allow evacuation of people by limiting heat radiation, and facilitate rescue team activities. Therefore, fire doors have a major role in the fulfillment of the rules of buildings fire safety. This paper discusses the main issues related to the fire resistance of fire doors (tests methodology and way of classification) and presents a comparison of temperature rises on unexposed surface of fire doors test specimens depending on the type of structure and side of fire exposure. Temperature rises have been compared on unexposed surface of timber, aluminum and steel single leaf doorset which have fulfill the requirements of the EI 2 30 fire resistance class, in case of the fire acting from the hinge side and the side opposite to the hinges.

Study on critical places for maximum temperature rise on unexposed surface of curtain wall test specimens

“…The glass units are composed of the fire resistant glass pane as an internal layer coupled by means of the steel frame with the external glazing (usually toughened or laminated). The first part of glazing -fire resistant glass pane 02006-p.6 were generally the same ones as used for the tests of doorsets [7,28] or glazed partitions [13,14]. Due to the specific of this elements testing the mentioned glass pane has to be prepared for stopping the increase of average temperature rise to a level of 140 K. This fire glass together with the additional air space and external glass panes creates a good insulating barrier and cause the low temperature rise in place T1.…”

Analysis of temperature increase in fire-exposed internal vertical partitions with glazing

“…By definition, the measure of fire insulation is the temperature increase on an unheated surface above a given level. For partition walls, the limit value of temperature increase at any point of a given partition is 180°C, while the average temperature increase on the glazing cannot exceed 140°C [10][11]. A barrier is considered as not providing fire insulation when the non-load-bearing wall loses its separating function due to the temperature limit or the average temperature being exceeded on the unheated surface [12].…”

“…Zgodnie z definicją -miarą izolacyjności ogniowej jest przyrost temperatury na powierzchni nienagrzewanej powyżej danego poziomu. Dla ścian działowych graniczna wartość przy rostu temperatury w dowolnym punkcie danej przegrody wynosi 180°C, przy czym przyrost średniej temperatury na przeszkleniach nie może przekroczyć 140°C [10][11].…”

Improvement of fire door design using experimental and numerical modelling investigations

“…The increased thermal insulation thickness may lead to increase the relative gap between the door leafs. Izydorczyk et al (2015) have discussed the resistance of fire doors and compared between the temperature rise of unexposed surfaces of fire doors with different surface material including timber, aluminum and steel. From the discussed results, change in the fire door's structure or the method of mounting significantly affects the fire resistance characteristics.…”