Published (News)
PhD candidate in FRIC at NTNU, Andreas Sæter Bøe is now making preparations for a series of fire tests of I-joists floors with cellulose, wood fibre and phenolic insulation. Here is some info on the progress.
In these pictures, Andreas and staff at RISE Fire Research are attaching thermocouples to a test specimen. The test specimen consists of a frame with I-joists with insulation in between. Due to the design of the I-joists, they consist of less material and are lighter than ordinary solid timber joists. Different types of insulation will be placed between the I-joists, including wood fibre, cellulose and phenolic insulation provided by FRIC partners. A gypsum board will be mounted on the exposed side, and the specimen will be placed horizontally on a 1.5 x 1.5 metre pilot furnace made for fire resistance testing. At a given time during the test, the gypsum board will be removed to simulate fall-off during a fire.
The aim of the study is to document how the charring rate of the I-joist depends on the type of insulation that is used. These results will be used as input to the revision of Eurocode 5
Design of timber structures – Part 1-2: Structural fire design, and make it easier to include different types of insulation in the design phase of building projects.
Andreas is a PhD candidate at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTNU, supervised by Professor Anne Steen-Hansen, Professor Ivar S. Ertesvåg and PhD Kathinka L. Friquin. The work is a part of Project 3.1 (Novel Construction Materials) and Project 3.2 (Timber buildings) in FRIC.
FRIC partners will be invited to learn more about the results of the tests as soon as they have been conducted, as part of the FRIC webinar series. The outcome from the study will also be published as part of this PhD work.
Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or input!
Andreas Sæter Bøe:
andreas.s.boe@ntnu.no
Professor Anne Steen-Hansen:
anne.steen-hansen@ntnu.no /
anne.steen.hansen@risefr.no