The Laboratory carries out the following activities:

  • commercial activities
  • experimental research in the field of fire
  • education in the field of fire.
 PIC4506-Modifier 1000

Commercial activities

Laboratory's commercial activities consists of:

  • fire resistance testing,
  • extended application reporting according to EN 15725 ans specific extended application standards,
  • classification reporting according to EN 13501-2.

 

The Laboratory offers specific services to its customers, as guidance in fire regulation, configuration of test specimen according to the various normative requirements, etc.

Our commercial testing activities mainly cover the following standard methods.

 

EN 1364

Non-loadbearing elements

 

EN 1364-1

Walls

1364-1

EN 1364-2

Ceilings 1364-2

EN 1364-3

Curtain walling - Full configuration

1364-3

EN 1364-4

Curtain walling - Part configuration

1364-4

EN 1365

Loadbearing elements  

EN 1365-1

Walls

1365-1

EN 1365-2

Floors and roofs

1365-2

EN 1365-3

Beams

1365-3

EN 1365-4

Columns

1365-4

EN 1365-5

Balconies and walkways

 

EN 1365-6

Stairs 1365-6

EN 1366

Service installations

 

EN 1366-3

Penetration seals

1366-3

EN 1366-4

Linear joint seals

1366-4

EN 1366-6

Raised access and hollow core floors

1366-6

EN 1366-7

Conveyor systems and their closuress

 

EN 1634

 Fire resistance and smoke control tests for door and shutter assemblies, openable windows and elements of building hardware

 

EN 1634-1

Door and shutter assemblies and windows

1634-11634-1b

EN 1634-2

Elements of building hardware

 

N 13381

Contribution to the fire resistance of structural members

 

EN 13381-1 to                 EN 13381-9

  140X150 vue four avant fermeture

NBN 713-020

Building elements  

NBN 713-020

Including electrical cables NBN 713-020

 

Experimental research in the field of fire

 

Some examples of experimental research in which the Laboratory has participated are illustrated below.

 

CSTC (since 2005)

 

  • 2005-2006 - 7 tests on load-bearing walls: validation of different implementations (clay block walls vs. aggregate concrete, different thicknesses, rectified blocks vs. unrectified, masonry with traditional mortars vs glue mortars)
  • 2010 - Test on 4 modules: implementation of solutions for joining ceilings, floors and walls in wooden frame houses
  • 2010 - Test on 36 UHPC (ultra-high performance concrete) cylindrical specimens suspended from their upper face to an aerated concrete roofing slab
  • 2016 - Test on 6 facade modules made of wooden frames, which openings are filled with different solid panels and insulations, and fixed in front of a supporting floor
  • 2016 - Test on a load-bearing wall made of a wooden structure, braced by panels placed on the non-exposed fire side, and filled with a rockwool insulation

 

CSTC1 CSTC2 CSTC3
CSTC4

 

PRECOBEAM (2009)

 

Precobeam 1 Precobeam 2 Precobeam 3 Precobeam 4

 

SPF INTERIEUR (2011)

 

The topic of this research was the determination of the factor m.

The Basic Standards for fire prevention classify industrial buildings according to the characteristic fire load qfi,d [MJ/m²], which is the total heat load per unit area at the ground qfi,k [MJ/m²] corrected by a combustion factor m [dimensionless], a value between zero and one, which takes into account the total or partial combustion of materials, i.e. qfi,d = qfi,k . m.

The suggestion was to separate and identify separately the two aspects "combustion efficiency" and "participation rate", so that the combustion factor is defined by m = hc . hp.
Six goods were tested: white flour for bread, potatoes, compacted textiles, toilet paper, wood pellets, wooden boards.
 
SPF 1 SPF 2 SPF 3 SPF 4

 

ATTEL (2011)

 

The issue of this research was performance-Based approaches for high strength tubular columns and connections during earthquake and fire loadings.

The ATTEL project aims at developing performance-based design approaches where the capacity design of steel grades up to S690 and S700MC – widely used in seismic engineering to avoid brittle failure and ensure ductile behaviour – will be extended to high strength steel circular hollow section structures to prevent failure and collapse under both earthquake and fire loading.

 

Recherche 1 Recherche 2 Recherche 3 Recherche 4

 

LOCAL FIRES (2012)

 

Normally structures are designed to resist fully developed compartment fires for a specified time. In large compartments fully developed compartment fires are, however, unlikely to occur. Relatively large local fires which do not flashover the compartment may, however, develop and threaten e.g. a steel column. The purpose of the experiments is to characterize the thermal exposure levels by radiation and convection of a column surrounded by liquid pool fires by measurements with thermocouples and heat flux meter.

 

Local 1 Local 2 Local 3 Local 4

 

FIDESC4 (2012)

 

FIDESC4 stands for Fire Designed Structure with Class 4.

Eight tests were performed on eccentrically loaded columns: 2 laminated specimens and 6 welded specimens, with constant or variable section.
The heating was applied by electrical mats wrapped around the specimen.
Initial deformation of the specimens were measured before the tests in order to be introduced in the numerical simulations (validation of the numerical models) and to predict likely locations of local buckling where displacement transducers could be located.

 

Fidesc4 1 Fidesc4 2 Fidesc4 3 Fidesc4 4

 

LOCAFI (2013)

 

The LOCAFI reseach was the continuation of the “Local Fires” research.
Different specimens, consisting of tubular columns (ø 203 mm / L 4000 mm) and H-profile (HEA300 / L 4000 mm), were paced in different pools (diameters : 0,6 – 1,0 – 1,4 – 1,8 – 2,2 m) and subjected to fires feeded by differents combustibles (diesel, n-heptane, wood cribs). A total of 24 different such combinations were tested, with a common rate of heat release HRR per square meter of 500 kW/m².
 
Locafi 1 Locafi 2 Locafi 3 Locafi 4
modifié le 09/08/2023

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