: ' This report has been prepared

for information and record

purposes and is not to be referenced

in any publication. J/k

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS REPORT

5*+3i

FIRE RESEARCH IN BRITAIN AND EUROPE - 1957

by

I, Fo Robertson

<NBS>

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS
THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Functions and Activities

The functions of the National Bureau of Standards are set forth in the Act of Congress, March

3, 1901, as amended by Congress in Public Law 619, 1950. These include the development and

maintenance of the national standards of measurement and the provision of means and methods

for making measurements consistent with these standards; the determination of physical constants and properties of materials; the development of methods and instruments for testing materials,

devices, and structures; advisory services to Go\ernment Agencies on scientific and technical

problems; invention and development of devices to serve special needs of the Government; and the

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Inquiries regarding the Bureau’s reports should he addressed to the Office of Technical Information. National Bureau of Standards. Washington 25. D. C.
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS REPORT

MBS PROJECT MBS REPORT

1002-12-1029 August l, 1957 5^31

FIRE RESEARCH IN BRITAIN AND EUROPE - 1957

by

A 0 F 0 Robertson

IMPORTANT NOTICE

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STAN

intended for use within the Go

to additional evaluation and rev

listing of this Report, either in the Office of the Director, Natic however, by the Government ag

to reproduce additional copies .

gross accounting documents Approved for public release by the ' ,lly

» ,ublished if is subjected

i xt • ^

production, or open-literature

Director of the National Institute Of I, js Obtained in writing from Standards and Technology (NIST) ich permission is not needed, on October 9, 2015.

p ' wred 11 lhal " isllus

<NBS>

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

FIRE RESEARCH WORK IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE

ABSTRACT

This report presents brief notes on discussions and observations made during a recent

visit to Europe o An index is provided to facilitate its use for reference purposes* Further

information on specific subjects may be available

in the original notes of the writer*

Tuesday 21 May

I arrived in London and went out to the Fire Research

Station after lunch* I visited with Shorter and Clarke

and discussed plans for my visit including a short trip to

the Building Research Station* I spent some tiise looking

over new facilities under construction*

Wednesday 22 May

I spent the morning in town arranging details of

visits to France and Sheffield* Went out to the Fire

Research Station just after noon® Spent an hour with

McGuire discussing analog and other problems* He tells

me that they have not used analog recently* He is using

short cut methods of estimating fire performance* Discussed his high impedance current generator and he indicated that they have only used it with constant input

signal or one developed as an electrical transient*

Further references to high impedance current generators

are in Electronic Engineering, April 1956, p« 179 and

May 1956, p* 223* He indicated that they were very

careful about predictions based on analog solutions involving

surface cooling phenomena* It appears that this may be

related to manner of generating their time temperature

curve* Some discussion of this and his short cut methods

of prediction of fire resistance to be in paper in process*
He indicated they had dene some work on use of photo

transistors for fire detectors. These are Doth temperature

and light sensitive devices. His paper on these is in

Electronic Engineering 5 December 195'-

I visited Mr, Ashton briefly and discussed fire

resistance test methods. Their new furnace has been

completed and appears to be a considerable improvement

over previous one. The opening is 12 ft x 22 ft 6 in.

It is built so that a partition can be placed across

width permitting use of only one half -of furnace. There

are two furnace flue openings from the floor of the

furnace. It was indicated that these performed well after

short preheating of the stack gases by burner placed at

bottom of stack. They find that operation is satisfactory

at a gas rate of 30 9 000 cubic feet per hour of ^00 BlU/ftP

gas. Their maximum gas rate is 3^000 cubic feet per hour.

The restraining frames they use are of steel sections

with concrete protection about as shown In figures below.

In cases where continuity Is desired* structure is poured

around steel to form both specimen and frame as shown at

I discussed briefly the question of bare thermocouples

and was assured that oxidizing conditions existed in the

furnace. Pressures are somewhat lower than atmospheric,

I was shown^ photographs and a movie of the large

beams tests. These had a span between supports of 2-4- ft.

One specimen of the same size as those studied at NBS

was included in the study. Results on this specimen were

much the same as we observed. In the larger specimens

those without the additional cover reinforcement failed

in short order * about one hour* due to sloughing off of the

cover and. longitudinal shear through the beam close to the

top slab. When auxiliary reinforcement was used* the

left
”3

“

lower corners sloughed off but major portion of cover

remained in place * The additional steel prevented the

longitudinal shear failure and beams failed in diagonal

shear at end of beam 0 They hope to have a report for

publication near beginning of next year* A brief review

of their program is to be presented at the symposium on

prestressed concrete on the West coast in the fall*

I visited briefly with Lawson and discussed things

in general we took a look at their new buildings under

construction These include two brick rooms for study of

fire fighting methods* One four story stack of rooms

with stairway for studies of vertical fire spread from

one floor to another* One wall

of each room was not fitted so

that various closures could be

tested® We took a brief look at

the large burn building which is

under construction* It is of

150 x 50 x *+0 ft in height* They

have a pit at one end 12 ft on a

side and provisions for directing

winds up to 30 mph over the 15 -x 15 x 10 ft high volume above it*

The roof of the building is

removable from the area above the

pit* The building is to cost

about one quarter million dollars*

Spent the morning in discussion of plans for Paris

meeting* I was asked to present ten minute discussion

of work at National Bureau of Standards on fire research*

I agreed on condition that it was not to be published and

that I could review any notes circulated to members of

conference based on talk*

OkIE F'uoo'SL os—

n/ eenc.aj_ "EPsq , Thursday 23 May

After lunch I spent some time with Dr* Kingman dis~

cussing their work on flame traps* They have worked

almost entirely with bare screens ? usually of brass* -hey

have worked with various mesh sizes and find velocity

with which the flame approaches the screen is the important

variable in determining whether it is penetrated* They
have done no work on use of additives for reducing flame

penetration but -mentioned work ‘being done h7 W. Mansfield

at the British internal Combustion Research Association,

111 Buckingham Avenue, Slough, Bucks, on the oil wetting

of gages for reducing diesel crank ease explosions* He

presented a paper before the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers in April 1956. 9 They are making photographic records of flame

propagation through screens for measurement of velocities

Pressure records are also obtained for studies of gas

behavior 0 -hey find that when ignition occurs near the

open end of the tube the flame velocities are lower than

if tube were closed 0

Dr. Rashbash is directing

for duct So This is related to

special reference to the use oi

work on the study

screen stud]

of vents

vents in d~

but is

Is for

with

~ tS J of gas pressures which may build up*

I mentioned our interest in powders to Dr* Rashbash

and he mentioned work he had done on the erosion, of dust

layers by wind streams 0 He also referred to a report on

this subject by Jo Dawes in Safety in Mines Research

Establishment, Research Report No. 3 of about 1

Dr. Rashbash raised a question about the United State

requirement that dry chemical powders not pick up mare

than Go 4- percent on weight basis when exposed to high

humidity conditions. He indicated that they observed

such performance for standard dry chemical but for powder

without coating a weight loss was observed, probably

resulting from increase of vapor pressure as a result of

moisture absorption.

Friday 24- May

Mr. Shorter and I, visited Drs. Burgoyne and Weinberg

at

o Imperial College. They had just moved it

building and were rather rushed with preparations for a

grand opening with the Queen Mother present.
5

Dr® Weinberg briefly reviewed projects®

Mr» J* Reck is working on the suppression of methaneair flame propagation with alkali halide particles® They

use a nozzle of rectangular section to produce a uniform

gas velocity and permit stabilization of an inverted V

flame having flat sides* Very fine salt particles are

introduced into the gas and these are used with stroboscopic

light source for observation by means of Tyndall scattering

of the light* These particles permit gas velocity measurements being made and thus also falme velocities* They ,are

studying the effect of salt concentration on flame velocity®

I got the impression that Reck was more interested in the

techniques than the use of them*

Mr a A® F® Roberts was studying ignition and spread, of

flames on liquid surfaces® Initial work was being done

with alcohol in shallow tray maintained at various

temperatures® Ignition was started at one end of the pan

and the spread of flame between asbestos cement boards was

observed® The technique used appeared crude but seemed

to show good promise of providing useful results® We

should follow this work®

Mr® K® G® Payne was studying the electrical properties

of flames, the thought being that it might be possible

under certain conditions to increase heat transfer rate

by using Electric fields®

Mr® J» A® Sage was studying ignition criteria of

gas mixtures® This involved use of a flow type ignition

furnace of cylindrical form® Premixed air and fuel flowed

through a heater element upon entering the furnace® Guard

heaters were used to reduce heat losses from the flowing

mixture® This mixture was forced past a small refractory

electrically heated bar placed across the flow passage®

Measurements were made of the initial temperature of the

mixture just sufficient to cause ignition at the second heater

element® These were plotted against the

electrical imput to the secondary heater

element® The resulting data were extrapolated back to the theoretical temperature required for ignition with no addi- &

tional heat imput® It was suggested that £

this provided a measure of the temperature of the mixture as combustion was V" initiated®
f —6-

Monday 27 May to Wednesday 29 May

I attended meetings of the Fire Research. Working Party

of Conseil International du Bailment pour la Recherche

1' Etude et la Documentation In Paris, The meetings were

conducted in the offices of Centre Scientifique et Technique

du Batiment in the western part of the city® Wine countries

were represented;

1, Britain - Mr, S» H, Clarke (Chairman)

2, Canada - Mr, G, W, Shorter

3, Austria - Dr, tech, Rister

4, Netherlands - Dr, C 0 van Hoogstraten

5, Federated Germany - Dr, Ing, Schubert

o, Sweden, Denmark^ Finland and Norway - M, Johannes son

7, Italy - Gen, Dott, Ing, Fortunate Cini

8, France - M, le Colonel Fackler (Secretary)

9* United States of America - Dr, A, F, Robertson

The meetings were conducted in both the French and English

languages. Although we are not member, I had been asked

to participate in the meeting and discussions, k detailed

report of these meetings is being prepared by the chairman

and secretary. In this report I will only mention some of

the more important points in the discussions, *

The first morning meeting was comprised of brief

introductory descriptions of work under way and considered

important in the different countries.

The afternoon session included reports of Ji round

robinw tests for measurements of flame spread behavior of

finish material, an analysis of the desirable characteristics of a useful test evaluation method and discussion by

various delegates of their own problems. It was obvious

that the methods currently being used for flammability

tests of this type have not been well enough Justified on

the basis of full scale tests to warent consideration of

one method as superior to others,

Tuesday morning was devoted to discussion of fire

resistance test methods. Reports were made on tests

performed in three laboratories on the fire resistance of

three types of wall panels. The results of many of these

* A complete list of papers presented and now available

in the Fire Protection Section files is included, at

the end of this report.
were surprisingly close when consideration is given to

the extent of variations in test procedure and conditioning

of specimens#

It was stated that the working party would. Initiate

a request to the International Standards Organization. to

take steps necessary to start establishment of an international standard for fire resistance tests#

There were discussions of the importance of proper

moisture conditioning of specimens prior to test and

desirable minimum sizes of furnace that seemed necessary#

Methods of heating furnaces and restraint of specimens were

discussed#

In the afternoon discussions were presented on the

problem of fires in high buildings or {? flats# !f Sweden

has performed some fire tests to determine the hazards of

fire spread# Some mention was made of a new roof fire

test developed in Britain and also of studies of fire stop

doors performed in France and Sweden#

Wednesday morning was spent in discussing the chimneyproblem, plans for future meetings, and a reply to the

petition made by the fiberboard lobby#

The afternoon was spent In a visit to the laboratories

of CSTB at Champs sur Marne# It appeared that they had

been quite busy in the field of fire resistance studies of

partitions and chimneys#

In summarizing the experiences achieved during this

conference and the value of such meetings, If seems obvious

that although the technical value to us may be limited,

the possibility of encouraging international, cooperation

and standardization of fire test methods Is of great value

and should be encouraged# There seems little doubt that

the advantages of such meetings to the smaller nations may

be very great#

Friday 31 May

Pleasant visit at the Fire Research Institute TWO in

the Netherlands# Dr# van Eltern was in midst of preparing

for visit to Germany so I was turned over to T# T# Lie,

an Indonesian, who Is apparently third in command# Obviously

he is very familiar with all their work#
-8-

He described their spread of flame work* They rise a

small nearly cubical enclosure in which, two specimens are

placed to face each other 0 One of these is heated by gas

flames for 3 min and. both are heated by measured electrical

input after that time in such manner that ignition of second

specimen is achieved in 15 min* They use power input as

inverse indication of flammability with 0*05 eal/em2 as

minimum* This provides a somewhat tangible measure of size

of fire required to ignite specimen 0 The time of flashover

is arbitrarily taken as that time at which the temperature

difference between the furnace air temperature and the

specimen surface rises by l5°C/m±n* If flashover occurs in

less than 15 min, then comparison of materials is based on

heat release* It was indicated that although they realize

the importance of conditioning specimens prior to test,

they have not done this to date*

We discussed self ignition phenomena and methods of

measurement* Their adiabatic furnace operates with ambient

temperatures one or more degrees higher than the specimen

and as a result, they supply heat continuously* From the

resulting time temperature chart, they select as an ignition

temperature that at which the temperature starts to rise

quickly* He mentioned that they were having difficulty in

achieving uniformity of furnace temperatures and did observe

different behavior when specimen size was varied*

I was shown the new apparatus they are developing to

study falmm.abi.lity of fabrics* This uses a specimen held

on a vertical frame perhaps 4- ft in length* Flame travel

is measured by fine tin wires, which melt when heated* A

drum chronograph is used to record data*

I visited their Fire Resistance, Laboratory* They have

a beam furnace for specimens about 24- ft in length, a panel

furnace for specimens about 3 x 3 meters, and a floor furnace

for specimens about 2*4- oc 4- 0 4- meters in size* In nr case

were really heavy restraining frames used and in both beam

and floor furnace, clearance was provided to permit

expansion of the specimen* Loads were applied by dead

weights and furnace temperatures measured by protected

thermocouples* Unexposed surface temperatures were observed

by use of asbestos pads over the couples* I saw their
9

'

concrete floor specimens with L shaped ends permitting

the application of a moment to simulate one factor of

continuity. hone of these have as yet been tested# They

are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of

moisture and need for conditioning specimens prior to

test e It was stated that for GIB, Groupe de travail du.

Feu (CIB-FRWP) the concrete block specimen had been

constructed with a portion of blocks dried and remainder

moist e Failure times differed by as much as an hour

( 2 and 3 hr )

Monday 3 June

Visited with Mr 9 McGuire at FRS for two hours

discussing ignition problems and specially electrostatic

hazards # He has recently prepared a survey of this type

of hazard soon to be published

F.R Note No* 28V "The Fire Hazard Created by

Static Electricity", J a H a McGuire#

Electrostatic ignition hazards in coal mining are reviewed

in

"Electrostatic Hazards in Coal Mining" by R» A0 Dale, Res. Rept# No. 118, Sept *55? SMRE

Some information on the ignition of explosives may be

available from Dr 0 Je F. Summer of Explosives Research and

Development Establishment at Waltham. Abbey, Essex (Min

Supply;

He also discussed his infra

red fire locators and he indicated

that his present one made use of a

lead sulphide cells However he

indicated that both Mullard and

Pl.es sy were coming out with

Indium Antimonide type of

cell which was useful up to about

7/^ 6 The use of telephones was

considered an obvious advantage over

an indicating me ter

#
Shorter and I left at this point for BuildingResearch Station where we were Briefly received By Dr®

Lea and then spent several hours with Mr. Bevan and

Mr. Langden-Thomas. We discussed problems involved in

the writing of Building codes. They indicated that at

present Britain has no Building code similar to those

in existence in our country. However a committee is

now' Being set up to prepare one for London.

* We discussed fires in large factories and learned

of one recently in the Jaguar plant. .Here wood fiberBoard

was involved Below coated metal roof. Their thinking is

that if there had Been more adequate protection for the

hazardous processes such fires could Be controlled without

fire walls.

We discussed Briefly our proposed calorimeter type

comBustiBility test and Mr. Bevan indicated considerable

interest in a test of this type.

Tuesday b June

We met at 9° 30 at Mr. Fry’s office at 19 Cornwall

Terrace near Regent Park. Clarke , Isaacs, Lawson, Ashton,

Fry, Shorter, and I were there. The purpose was largely

to discuss problems of mutual interest in the fire protection

field. It took the form of discussion of answers to a

list of questions Isaacs had Brought. A record of these

discussions was made By Mr. Fry and is to Be available.

At noon we stopped to go down to the Fire Offices

Committee where we had Been invited to lunch. Discussions

were resumed after lunch.

Wednesday 5 June

I left for Cambridge. I visited the Department of

Physical Chemistry where I met Dr. Bowden, Dr. Ysffe,

and Messrs B. L« Evans, A 0 G. McLaren, and P. W. Linder.

The objective of the visit was to discuss problems o

drop sensitivity tests of explosives and propellent materH*

h

3
11-

I was informed by Dr® Evans that current thinking on

initiation of explosives required that the process start

with the development of a gaseous explosive mixture which

filled voids in granular materials and ultimately exploded

initiating a detonation wave in the explosive solid® In

granular materials this may he a three stage process the

initial gas breaking up crystals and the cloud of fine

particles furnishing a source of gas for a larger explosion

which may serve as the initiation of the detonation wave®

It was indicated that they had been able to initiate

lead ozide by light from electrical sparks® It was thought

that the light served directly to initiate chemical decomposition rather than as suggested earlier by an intermediate thermal mechanism®

They consider that for materials which are sensitive

to this type of initiation, the test provides a. very sensitive means for measurement of sensitivity® They measure

this sensitivity in terms of the voltage to which the spark

forming capacitor is charged® An indication of the

sensitivity of the test may be obtained from the fact that

initiation is often determined by a change of voltage of

5 in 2000® They attribute this improved reproducibility

to the fact that the mechanism involved is well defined

or always the same® This is not the case during a drop

test when a large number of modes 03? heat generation may

be involved®

They were inclined to question the usefulness of

another new drop sensitivity test method® They did however

suggest that it might be useful to visit Dr® A® M® Yuill

of Imperial Chemical Industries Research Department,

Nobel Division® He has done some work on materials at

other than room temperature conditions®

Thursday, June 6

Visited Dr® B® P 0 Mullins at Pye stock® He spent

considerable time describing the work they were doing on

ignition temperature measurement® They use a continuous

flow apparatus arranged to permit continuous fuel injection

into a hot air stream® This work has been described in a

series of papers published in Fuel under the title “Studies
-12

on the Spontaneous Ignition of Fuels Injected Into a

Hot Air Stream 8,’ I to VIII 9 starting with April 1953* In

these papers he plots <T'

r

_ the ignition delay time against

the reciprocal temperature.. Thus our adiabatic furnace

data may he correlated in a similar manner and possibly

tie in with his.

We exchanged drafts of definitions of terms and agreed

to comment on therm He is anxious to have us run data on

materials he has studied such as n-Decyl Alcohol or Analine,

He agreed to forward recent papers he has prepared and

requested that we supply him with reprints when available..

Tuesday 11 June

I spent the morning and part of afternoon at FRS with

Dr, Thomas, We discussed the work he had done on correlation,

of the radiant ignition behavior of cellulosic materials.

He is critical of Sauer's report on tests with filter

papers on the ground that if the correlation is to be on

a chemical basis the use of the E/R term is not sufficient.

The rate constant and heat of reaction terms should also

be included. He considers the use of the E/R term as an admission that an ignition temperature must still be

considered.

They admit that the paper by Lawson and Sims on the

work previously done should be corrected for absorbence

and an area effect. They plan soon to get out a new

report on the correlation of data based on a technique

somewhat similar to that used by Sauer, They are concerned

that when this technique is used Sauer's data correlate on

the basis of an ignition temperature of about 65C°C

whereas their data requires the assumption of a temperature

of about 500° 0.

We also briefly discussed the self heating behavior

of materials and the difficulty of correlation of activation

energy data from adiabatic furnace with similar data obtained

during Mitchell's tests in constant temperature ovens,

I said we had observed similar difficulties and would

attempt to loan him a draft copy of Genensky's, Ault's,

and Gross' papers.
-13-

In the afternoon I discussed , in Mr

the dry chemical work with Mr® Fittes®

small scale experimental equipment

they were constructing for application

of powders, see sketches* Apparently

all their work to date has been on

full scale tests® They have used

two types of nozzles - a cone spray

formed by impinging jets and a flat

spray formed by a slit about 10 mills

wide o

Hird's absence,

He described the

C-O fJ'S.TA.Khl _

He showed me a translation of a

French paper on which he was going to

try to get me a reference® The lower

sketch shows the apparatus used for

this study*

I also discussed with Shorter,

Lawson, and Thomas the proposed burnout

tests to be performed on the St®

Lawrence waterway® I indicated that

we were interested in this study but

probably would not be able to do

much more than send an observer®

Wednesday 12 June

e.o n(tA

"Fo&ouo walls

Ce- o 4tcol_u£© Wi e. T~LoW

FlM£

SjA'S

L I Kh ECTGD

Visited Mr® Webster and breifly discussed fabric

flammability test methods® The present status of

thinking on this subject is contained in the paper ,! The

Flammability of Apparel Fabrics in Relation to Domestic

Burning Accidents” o This is published by British Standards

Institute, their paper PD 2777* This suggests the use of

three different test methods for evaluation of untreated

fabrics ®

1® Ik vertical test for common fabrics ® This test

is in draft form for a new BS® In it a strip

1-g- in® wide and about 60 in® long is used®

This is suspended vertically and the bottom

ignited® The velocity of rise of the bottom
-14'

of the flaming portion is used as an indication of

flammability* This test is used for fabrics which

show inflammation rates of less than 2/3 in/sec * This test has been used because it was developed

by the textile people and does not penalize the

woolen and nylon type of synthetic fabrics in the

same way as the semicircular test method*

2. The AATCC test method (*+5° incline test* This is

used for brushed or otherwise highly flammable

fabrics*

3* The semicircular test method which is now in

British StandardSj BS4/6* This test method is

recommended chiefly for thin films and plastic

materials* It is not clear under what circumstances it would be used for fabrics*

For tests of treated fabricsBS 1547- '4-9 is used* This

is somewhat similar to our vertical test although the fabric

is hung freely and not supported along its edges* This

method is being used to study the behavior of our treated

fabrics

I talked briefly about tests of roofing* Their new

test method which makes use of four 12 x 12 in* radiant

panels is being prepared as a British Standard® It applies

a negative pressure of l£ mm of water to the back side

of the assembly* This is considered the equivalent of a

15 mph breeze* Failure is considered to occur when flame

or glow breaks through to back of roof* Endurance times

may vary from 15 min to 3 hrs*

I discussed the small crib tests which he is doing

on a 1/9 scale* These are in preparation for their four

story burnout tests* He is using a five sided asbestos

board box with the open side in a vertical plane* They

are making continuous weight measurements and also radiation

measurements with their copper disc radiometers* He just

has preliminary data available to date but this seems to

indicate that ventilation is the important variable* The

size of sticks is not as important as their spacing* They

plan to do both 1/9 scale and 1/3 scale as well as full

size tests* This work seems quite similar to that we had

thr ought of*
I attended a project leaders’ peeling at which Mr*

Ashton and Thomas presented a resume of the Paris conference?

Afterwards I visited with Mr* Clarke and agreed to the

following

l s We would perform fire resistance tests on the

same constructions which had been studied by others

and on which reports were made at the conference®

2 e It was agreed that conferences of the type attended

were good in that they tended to encourage standardization of testing procedures as well as permit some

of the smaller countries the benefits of work now

done in this field®

3® They hope to prepare a report on the pre stressed

beam data by the last of this or early next year

and we will hear from them prior to its release®

They had no objection to brief oral reporting of

the apparent features of the tests®

4-® They would be quite agreeable to our sending a

man to study in detail the work on fire growth

they have done®

5® We agreed that we both had similar objectives in

our work on dry chemical extinguishers, that of

understanding better how to evaluate their

behavior®

I left the station shortly before 3 pm®

Thursday 13 June

Went to Sheffield where I visited Professor Thringo

We discussed the problems of constructing arid using models

for prediction of behavior of fires® lie showed me about

a dozen different experimental setups in which tye were

using models of different sorts® He mentioned his new

book on the subject which is just being released*
-16-

He emphasized the need to make observations on at

least one full scale prototype and then the probable need

to modify some of the scaling factors to make others cf

interest behave in a systematic fashion 0 For instance we

discussed the problem of diffusion fires above an oil tank®

It was suggested that probably the emissivity cf larger

fires was higher than that of the model® This would result

in the model receiving considerably less back radiation

from the fire than the prototype.. It was suggested that

this might be modified by the use of auxiliary heaters within

the oil®

I was invited to dinner with the advisory committee

for the Engineering School®

Friday lb June

Went from Glasgow to Stevenston where I visited Dr®

Gurton of the Nobel Division of the Imperial Chemical

Industries Ardeer Plant® I spent most of my time with Dr®

A® M® Yuill discussing the effects of ambient variables

on the sensitivity to initiation by impact of propellent

materials® He referred me to the work of W, Taylor and

A® Weale entitled n The Mechanism of Initiation of

Detonation in Solid Explosives, M Proc® Roy® Soc® A, V138 ? pp 92-116, 1932® The only other work he knew of on the

effect of ambient temperatures on initiation by impact was

that done by him in his thesis "The Impact Initiation of

Explosives", a thesis submitted at Cambridge University®

This latter work consisted of drop sensitivity tests at

low temperatures from which it was concluded that the

increased energy required was simply a function of the

additional energy required to raise the temperature of

substance to room temperature corresponding to the usual

ambient for tests of this type® After considerable discussion of the difficulties associated with impact testing,

it was generally concluded that insufficient work had been

done in this field and that further work was desirable to

explore the effect of ambient temperature on sensitivity

to impact® Mention was made of the frictional test, and

the combined friction and impact tests described in Dr®

Bowden's book® They still, however, consider the heating

by compression of air in small cavities as the most likely

mechanism of initiation by impact®

1

3
In the afternoon I visited with men working on the

use of powders for damning of methane explosions caused

hy blasting in coal, mines « I was told that they had run

a number of tests on different materials by suddenly admitting

a combustible gas mixture into a glass chamber in such a

way that a dispersed dust cloud was simultaneously formed

Although a number of materials were discovered which were

superior to sodium chloride, they are sticking to this for

sheathing explosives for economic reasons « The results of

their studies are presented in the paper "The Supression

of Methane“Air Ignitions by Fine Powders" by Jo Eo Dolan

and P e Bo Dempster, Reprint from the Jour 3 of Applied

Chemistry, September 5? 1955* P* 510“ 517 <5 They do not

plan to do further w^ork on this subject®
•18-

LIST OF DOCUMENTS PRESENTED BY THE DELEGATES

AT THE SECOND MEETING OF THE GROUPE DE TRAVAIL DU FEU DU GIB

PARIS, MAY 1957

Austria

FRWP No* 10/A Unification and simplification of fir© resistance test methods for wood materials

and structural parts

Canada

FRWP No. 4/C Letter 57-2585 of April 24s 1957 from Mr.

Shorter

Denmark

FRWP No. 26/Da Report and description of two test apparatus for Investigation of surface fires

France

FRWP No. 3/F

FRWP No. 4/F

FRWP No. 6/f

FRWP No. 7/p

Proces-verbal No* 57® 387 concerning a

study of the fire resistance of a cellular

concrete block partition

Pro ce s-verbal Nc 0 57® 388 concerning a

study of the fire resistance of a wood

stud and gypsum board partition

Proces-verbal No. 57® 389 concerning a

study of the fire resistance achieved by

a built-up partition of pine and asbestos

paper

Study concerning the prevention of fire

in elevated and very elevated apartments

Study on the influence of rate of heat release on the course of a fire on the temperature attained during the fire

Reaction to fire (Flame Spread) measured

by radiation

Compte rendu No. 56®323^B concerning the

measurement of the reaction to fire of

materials from the Netherlands

FRWP No. 7/n
19-

France

FRWP No* 7/U.K*

FRWP No. 11/F

FRWP No. 12/F

FRWP No. 13 /F

FRWP No* 15/F

FRWP No. 29/F

FRWP No* 30/F

Netherlands

FRWP No* 3/N

FRWP No* VN

FRWP No* 7/1 N

Fed* German Repub.

FRWP No*~^+/D

FRWP No* b/Dl

FRWP No* 8/D

FRWP No* 9/D

Great Britain

FRWP No* 3/U*K*

FRWP No* 3/1. U.K.

FRWP No, 3/2, U*K*

Compte rendu No* 56*323~A concerning the

measurement of the reaction to fire of

materials from England*

Metal fire doors not insulated

Measurement of the fire resistance

achieved by a fire door

Furnace for tests of walls and partitionsRecording time temperature curves

Note on the time --temperature curve

Prevention of fires in public buildings

(Building Code) 13 /August 195*+

Studies in the field of fire prevention

during construction

Fire resistance tests on three types of

partitions

Rules for fire safety in buildings

Reaction to fire tests

Building Code BOA 3/55 for the erection

of high buildings

Rules of various countries for the safety

of persons in high buildings

Comparison of different fuels; heat generated by combustible specimens

Studies of a specimen after a fire and

hose stream test

Correlation of fire resistance tests

Correlation of fire resistance tests (1)

Correlation of fire resistance tests (2)
-20-

FRWP No® 3/3®U,K® Correlation of fire resistance tests(3)

FRWP No® 4/U.K. Review of regulations for protection against

fires in high buildings, by L® A® Ashton

FRWP No® 5/U«K® High buildings

FRWP No® lVU.K. Report on fire propagation tests carried

out in the United Kingdom

iWU.K.

14A2/U.K®

FRWP No® 16/U.K.

FRWP No® 17/U.K.

FRWP No® 18/U.K,

FRWP No® 19/UeK

FRWP No® 20/UeK

FRWP No® 21/U®K

FRWP No® 22/UeK

FRWP No® 23/U®K

FRWP No® 2VU.K

FRWP No® 25/U.K

Addendum No® 1 to Report on fire propagation tests carried out in the United

Kingdom

Addendum No® 2 to Report on fire propagation tests carried out in the United

Kingdom

An analysis of survey information of

chimney fires

Pressure and nature of furnace atmosphere

in fire resistance tests

Temperature measurement in fire resistance

tests

Craks and fissures as criteria of failure

in fire resistance tests

Some aspects of fire resistance tests

British Standard Part 3: 1951

Fire-check flush doors and frames

Rules of the Fire Offices’ Committee for

the Construction and fixing of fireproof

doors, compartments and shutters

Report on fire resisting doors

Proposed external fire exposure roof test

Flash-over and fire propagation tests,

P# H® Thomas
- 21-

FRWP No 0 28/U.K. The flammability of apparel fabrics in

relation to domestic burning accidents,

PD 2777 - British Standards Institution

Sweden

FRWP No, 5/Su Fire Protection in high residential build

ings

FRWP No, 27/Su Spread of flame, preliminary report from

the Government Testing Institute in

Stockholm

Switzerland

FRWP No 0 31/Si Fire resistance of steel constructions
iJffiHC. .. >

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Alkali halide salts for flame suppression 0 Analog computers oooooeoooBoco

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* Additional reference to items so marked is available in the papers presented at the Paris conference* A complete set is on file in the Fire Protection Section Office. These papers are also

listed by title at the end of this report.
continued Page

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Imperial Chemical Industries « • « 0 • • « • • Imperial Chemical Industries - Nobel Division

Imperial College 0 • ® » Infrared flame detection

Initiation of explosives 0 « 0 International standardization

Models of fires

Powder dispersibility 0 Prestressed beam paper « • « « 9 0 o • <* • « o Prestressed concrete beams 0 > * « 0 « « o » Pye stock , Radiant ignition

Restraint of fire resistance specimens

Roof fire resistance test <> Roofs of large plants

Sto Lawrence burn out tests

Self ignition • 0 « Sheffield University

Suppression of flame

TNO Holland « « » e Vertical spread of building fires

Working Party on Fire Research

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V
U. S. DEPARTMENT OE COMMERCE

Sincluir Weeks, Secrcttiry NATIONAL BUREAU OE STANDARDS

A. V. A st i ii. Director THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The scope of activities of the National Bureau of Standards at its headquarters in Washington,

D. C., and its major field laboratories in Boulder, Colorado, is suggested in the following listing of

the divisions and sections engaged in technical work. In general, each section carries out spe- cialised research, development, and engineering in the field indicated by its title. A brief

description of the activities, and of the resultant reports and publications, appears on the

inside front cover of this report.

WASHINGTON, I). C.

Electricity and Electronics. Resistance and Reactance. Electron Tubes. Electrical Instruments. Magnetic Measurements. Dielectrics. Engineering Electronics. Electronic Instrumentation.

Electrochemistry.

Optics and Metrology. Photometry and Cplorimetry. Optical Instruments. Photographic

Technology. L^pgth. Engineering Metrology.

Beat and Power. Temperature Physics. Thermodynamics. Cryogenic Physics. Rheology

and Lubrication. Engine Fuels.

Atomic ajjd Radiation Physics. Spectroscopy. Radiometry. Mass Spectrometry. Solid State Physics. Electron Physics. Atomic Physics. Nuclear Physics. Radioactivity. X-rays. Betatron. Nucleonic Instrumentation. Radiological Equipment. AEC Radiation Instruments,

Chemistry. Organic Coatings. Surface Chemistry. Organic Chemistry. Analytical Chemistry.

Inorganic Chemistry. Electrodeposition. Gas Chemistry. Physical Chemistry. Thermochemistry. Spectrochemistry. Pure Substances.

Mechanics. Sound. Mechanical Instruments. Fluid Mechanics. Engineering Mechanics.

Mass and Scale. Capacity, Density, and Fluid Meters. Combustion Controls.

Organic and Fibrous Materials. Rubber. Textiles. Paper. Leather. Testing and Specifications. Polymer Structure. Organic Plastics. Dental Research.

Metallurgy. Thermal Metallurgy. Chemical Metallurgy. Mechanical Metallurgy. Corrosion.

Metal Physics.

Mineral Products. Engineering Ceramics. Glass. Refractories. Enameled Metals. Concreting

Materials. Constitution and Mierostructure

Building Technology, Structural Engineering Eire Protection. Heating and Air Conditioning. Floor, Roof, and Wall Coverings. Codes and Specifications.

Applied Mathematics. Numerical Analysis Computation. Statistical Engineering Mathematical Physics.

Data Processing Systems. SEAC Engineering Group. Components and Techniques. Digital

Circuitry. Digital Systems. Analogue Systems. Application Engineering.

• Office of Basic Instrumentation • Office ol Weights and Measures

BOULDER, COLORADO

Cryogenic Engineering. Cryogenic Equipment. Cryogenic Processes. Properties of Materials.

Gas Liquefaction.

Radio Propagation Physics. Upper Atmosphere Research. Ionospheric Research. Regular

Propagation Services. Sun-Earth Relationships.

Radio Propagation Engineering. Data Reduction Instrumentation. Modulation Systems.

Navigation Systems. Radio Noise. T ropospheric Measurements. T ropospheric Analysis. Radio

Systems Application Engineering.

Radio Standards. Radio Frequencies. Microwave Frequencies. High Frequency Electrical

Standards. Radio Broadcast Service. High Frequency Impedance Standards. Calibration

Center. Microwave Physics. Microwave Circuit Standards.