Many fires that occur now have electrical causes. In many cases, they are related to overloads and short circuits in connectors, electrical appliances, or even poorly designed and manufactured pipelines. When a fire occurs, the fire behavior of cables is an important factor in ensuring the safe evacuation of personnel.

Zero risk does not exist, but its impact may be minimized. Therefore, fire performance testing is a standard requirement that has been included in the rules and legislation of the construction and transportation departments in many countries around the world.

Reaction to fire test

The laboratory is fully equipped and can conduct the main fire performance tests defined below

International standard: IEC 60332-1-2 Vertical flame propagation: These tests verify the procedures for vertical flame propagation and determination of flame droplets/particles.

IEC 60332-3-21/22/23/24/25 Flame propagation: These tests verify the propagation of flames when cables come from external fires. In this case, the flame is applied to a group of vertically placed cables and is coupled with the force of ventilation. After applying the flame, the cable must be able to limit propagation to self extinguishing.

IEC 61034-2 Smoke Density: This test verifies the opacity of smoke when cables burn. For a section of cable placed in a 27m3 room, it is necessary to apply a flame containing alcohol and measure its transmittance.

IEC 60754-1/2: Gases generated during combustion of cable materials: This test verifies the gases generated during combustion. After chemical analysis, determine its halogen content, acidity (measured by pH value), and conductivity.

Fire test

UL 2196 Cable Fire Resistance Test: Used to verify the integrity of cables in the event of a fire. The purpose of doing so is to maintain the functionality of the cable even when exposed to a fire. Then complete the test through hose flow testing.

Fire resistance of DIN 4102-12 cable system to maintain circuit integrity

EN 1366-11 Fire protection systems for cable systems and related components

EN 50577 cables. Flame resistance test for unprotected cables (P level).

On the other hand, the laboratory can also test cables according to the following standards:

UL 758 Standard for Wiring Materials for Household Appliances

ISO 6722 Road Vehicles. 60V and 600V single core cables.

UL 1581 Electrical Reference Standard. Wires, cables, and flexible cords.

NF C 32-070 Test 1 (Class C2) Vertical flame propagation test. The combustion performance of building materials refers to all physical and/or chemical changes that occur when the material burns or encounters fire. The combustion performance of building materials is measured based on the surface ignitability and flame propagation, smoke generation, carbonization, weight loss, and the generation of toxic biochemical substances under the action of open flames or high temperatures. It is an important indicator for evaluating the fire resistance performance of materials.

According to the "Classification of Combustion Performance of Building Materials and Products" (GB 8624), the combustion performance of building materials and products in China is divided into four levels: A, B ₁, B ₂, and B Å.

• A-grade materials

Grade A materials refer to non combustible materials (products) that do not ignite, slightly ignite, or carbonize when exposed to open flames or high temperatures in the air, such as marble, glass, steel, concrete gypsum board, aluminum plastic board, metal composite board, etc.

• Class B material

Class B ₁ materials refer to fire-resistant materials (products), which are difficult to ignite, ignite and carbonize when exposed to open fire or high temperature in the air, such as cement particle board, mineral wool board, fire-resistant wood, fire-resistant plywood, fire-resistant PVC plastic, hard PVC plastic floor, etc.

B ₂ grade material

B ₂ grade materials refer to ordinary combustible materials (products) that, when exposed to open flames or high temperatures in the air, will immediately ignite or experience slight ignition. After the ignition source is removed, it will continue to burn or slightly ignite, such as natural wood, plywood, artificial leather, wall cloth, semi hard PVC plastic flooring, etc.

Class B Å material

B-grade materials refer to flammable materials (products) that are easily ignited by low energy ignition sources or welding slag in the air, and the flame propagation speed is extremely fast.

The combustion performance of building components depends on the combustion performance of the materials that make up the building components. According to the different combustion performance of building materials, building components are divided into non combustible components, non combustible components, and combustible components.

• Non combustible components

Non combustible components refer to components made of non combustible materials, such as concrete columns, concrete floors, brick walls, concrete stairs, etc.

• Refractory components

Refractory components refer to components made of refractory materials or components made of combustible materials with non combustible materials as protective layers, such as cement particle composite board partitions, gypsum board partitions with wooden keel nails on both sides, etc.

Combustible components

Combustible components refer to components made of combustible materials, such as wooden columns, wooden flooring, bamboo ceilings, etc.