Dangers of Ignition of Trees Exposed to Radiant Heat and Possibilities of Delaying Combustion

Abstract

With the ignition point of around 300 °C, wood as a building material is one of the most flammable materials in the case of fire. When fires occur, the spread of flames is always preceded by radiant heat load, which can cause damages of varying degrees to the different wood materials, and pyrolysis can also start as a result. Thus, special attention should be paid to the research of the thermal behaviour of wood in the case of radiant heat and of the possibilities of protection against it. In our work, we examined the behaviour of the wood material of national natural tree species (scots pine, spruce, hornbeam, acacia, beech) that appear in buildings as structural materials and interior design structural materials. In our study, we examined how wood materials treated with commercially available combustion delay materials behave when exposed to radiant heat. The extent of damage was determined by measuring mass loss. In addition, the mechanical and surface damage of the samples was not negligible. Unlike the standard measuring equipment used by the Lindner-method, our device providing radiant heat was a custom made device with a non-standard design.