Fire resistance of timbers from tropical countries and comparison of experimental charring rates with various models

Experimental charring rates have been compared with the results derived from Eurocode EC5-1.2 recommendation [ENV 1995-1-2. Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures - Part 1-2: General rules - Structural fire design. European prestandard; 1994], Australian standard AS 1720.4 relation [AS 1720.4. Timber structures Part 4: fire resistance of structural timber members. North Sydney, Australia: Standards Australia; 1990] and White's model [Charring rates of different wood species. PhD dissertation. Madison University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1988; White RH, Erik V, Nordheim EV. Charring rate of wood for ASTM E119 exposure. Fire Technol 1992;28(1)]. This comparison shows that the results obtained from these three models are not entirely satisfactory for tropical hardwood species. Therefore a new model has been proposed.