Combustible materials are increasingly being added to building external wall assemblies to enhance building characteristics. The addition of combustible materials requires external wall assemblies in the USA to pass NFPA testing standard 285. Due to its high cost, NFPA 285 is not well suited for manufacturer optimization of external wall assemblies. Using a previously designed intermediate scale fire test rig, the goal of this project was to assess the ability of the intermediate scale rig to simulate the source fire characteristics of NFPA 285. The team worked on the assembly instrumentation needed to characterize the source fire plume in the rig and compare them to NFPA 285. The team also worked on optimizing the insulation required to keep the rig at safe operating temperatures.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Weiler, Joseph David
• Houghton, Nicholas Richard
• Gillis, Sean Daniel
• Scott, David Franciose

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-043015-141710

Advisor

• Dembsey, Nicholas A.

Year

• 2015

Sponsor

• Kreysler & Associates

Date created

• 2015-04-30

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Civil Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright