# Application Assessment of Electrical Cables during Smoldering and Flaming Combustion
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Methods  
The tests were carried out on a test bench for testing the suitability of fire detectors equipped with a test chamber with the following dimensions: 9 m \(\times\) 6 m \(\times\) 4 m (L \(\times\) W \(\times\) H), and which had a flat, horizontal ceiling. The test chamber allows the simulation of conditions that occur during the development of an internal fire and is equipped with the following devices: a measuring ionization chamber (MIC), a densitometer, a thermocouple, fire detectors, suction tubes for a carbon monoxide concentration analyzer (Ultramat 23) and suction tubes for an FTIR spectroscopic. The instrumentation of the chamber allows the acquisition of measurement data (smoke intensity, temperature and humidity, and response time), their visualization and the generation of reports being the basis for admitting tested objects for use in fire protection systems. The measurement system operates automatically by recording data in the form of a graph with the following parameters: smoke concentration--Y, extinction modulus--m, CO concentration, and fire detector activation time [35; 36]. The time of activation of the following smoke detectors detecting smoke particles distributed in the combustion chamber according to the data in Table 2 was tested. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline
**Cable** & **Insulation and/or** & **Number and Rated** & **Cable** & & \\
**Marking** & **Sheath Material** & **Diameter of Wires** & **Diameter** & **Information about Cable** \\  & & **(mm\({}^{2}\))** & **(mm)** & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable A} & \multirow{2}{*}{Halogen-free plastic} & \multirow{2}{*}{5 \(\times\) 2 \(\times\) 0.8} & \multirow{2}{*}{10.9} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Control cable with multi-wire copper} \\  & & & & conductors, in halogen-free plastic insulation \\  & & & & and in halogen-free plastic coating \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable B} & \multirow{2}{*}{Plasticized PVC} & \multirow{2}{*}{3 \(\times\) 4.0} & \multirow{2}{*}{10.3} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Control cable with multi-wire copper wires,} \\  & & & & PVC insulation and PVC coating \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable C} & \multirow{2}{*}{Mica tape banding and halogen-free plastic} & \multirow{2}{*}{2 \(\times\) 2 \(\times\) 1.4} & \multirow{2}{*}{11.6} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Telecommunication cable resistant to fire, with copper wires insulated with mica tape and halogen-free insulation with a high oxygen index and a halogen-free plastic coating} \\  & & & & copper windows, PVC insulation and flame-retardant PVC coating \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable D} & \multirow{2}{*}{Plasticized PVC} & \multirow{2}{*}{1 \(\times\) 2 \(\times\) 1.4} & \multirow{2}{*}{10.0} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Telecommunication cable, with single-wire copper conductors, PVC insulation and flame-retardant PVC coating} \\  & & & & copper windows, PVC insulation, copper braid shield \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable F} & \multirow{2}{*}{Silicone} & \multirow{2}{*}{3 \(\times\) 1.5} & \multirow{2}{*}{8.5} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Recommended applications include foundries, steel mills, glass factories, baking equipment, burners, heating and lighting systems} \\  & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable G} & \multirow{2}{*}{Plasticized PVC} & \multirow{2}{*}{3 \(\times\) 2.5} & \multirow{2}{*}{10.4} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Wire with copper conductors, PVC wire insulation, rubber coatings for housing applications} \\  & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable H} & \multirow{2}{*}{PVC} & \multirow{2}{*}{3 \(\times\) 1.5} & \multirow{2}{*}{8.9} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Halogen-free, does not spread the flame, low smoke emission} \\  & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Cable I} & \multirow{2}{*}{Rubber} & \multirow{2}{*}{2 \(\times\) 2.5} & \multirow{2}{*}{12.7} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Control cable with multi-wire copper conductors, rubber insulation} \\  & & & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Test cables’ characteristics. For each type of combustion, 27 tests were performed (3 tests for each of the 9 samples of electrical cables).