Experimental study on the width and pressure effect on the horizontal flame spread of insulation material

Organic insulation materials such as polyurethane foams are widely used as buildings' façade wall insulation materials in China. However, they are highly flammable and of great fire hazard by the chemical nature. In this paper, a series of laboratory scale experiments using rigid polyurethane foam were conducted and theoretical analysis was applied to evaluate the real fire performance of such materials under different situations. Temperature profiles in both solid and gas phases were obtained. This work provides basic correlations of flame spread characteristic of polyurethane foams regarding to width and pressure changes. Theoretical analysis on heat transfer of width and pressure effects was also provided. Good agreement of changing trends was found between experimental results and theoretical calculation.