See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/327014688

An experimental study on the fire characteristics of new and aged building

wires using a cone calorimeter

Article  in  Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry · August 2018

DOI: 10.1007/s10973-018-7626-8

CITATIONS READS

2 45

2 authors, including:

Zhi Wang
University of Science and Technology of China
13 PUBLICATIONS   12 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Thermal behaviors of Nitrocellulose mixtures View project

lithium-ion battery fire View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Zhi Wang on 20 August 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7626-8(0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().,-volV)

An experimental study on the fire characteristics of new and aged

building wires using a cone calorimeter
Zhi Wang1 • Jian Wang1

Received: 1 April 2018 / Accepted: 1 August 2018

 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2018

Abstract
The fire behavior of one flame-retardant PVC cable used as building wire is investigated in this work. Bench scale tests
were performed using a cone calorimeter. The influence of two key factors, namely incident external heat flux and thermal
aging, on the cable fire characteristics is considered. The mass fraction, heat fraction, time-to-ignition (TTI), heat release
rate (HRR), emissions and residues were measured. The TTI increases with the thermal aging time, and the peak heat
release rate (pHRR) decreases for aged cables. Thermal aging can modify the chemical compositions and structures,
leading to further changes in combustion. The higher heat flux caused a higher HRR and a lower burning duration for the
studied new and aged cables. The difference in TTI and pHRR for new and aged cables is insignificant for higher external
heat fluxes. Finally, the prominent effect of thermal aging on emissions and residues was highlighted using varying
external heat fluxes. This work adds to the understanding of the difference in burning performance between new and aged
building wires.

Keywords Thermal aging  Electric cable  Piloted ignition  Cone calorimeter

Introduction transport low current, where the temperature and oxygen

Electric cables are used widely to supply electricity or
controls in buildings, nuclear power plants and other
facilities. Over the past few decades, numerous devastating
fires related to electric wires or cables have occurred [1–3].
These incidents can result in injuries, deaths and economic
loss. During the service of electric cables, the polymer
materials used in their construction may change dramati-
cally due to degradation from exposure to temperature
extremes, oxygen, UV radiation, moisture, etc. [4–7],
which may affect their fire performance. The fire charac-
teristics of polymer materials mainly depend on their
chemical compositions and structures [8]. An effective
method to study the long-term properties of materials or
products is accelerated aging. The electric cable used in the
present work is mostly installed indoors and is used to
& Jian Wang
wangj@ustc.edu.cn
1
State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science
and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, Anhui, People’s
Republic of China
are the normally important factors associated with accel-
erated aging [9].
Previous studies on cable fires have been conducted at
both large and small scales using a fire propagation appa-
ratus or cone calorimeter [10–15]. Many factors affecting
the fire behavior of cables were considered, including the
materials, size of the cable, cable configuration, ventilation
conditions, external heat and the type of cable installed
[3, 8, 16–20]. For example, the fire performance of several
types of new electric cables was studied as part of the
FIPEC project [21]. Meinier et al. [2] investigated the fire
behavior of halogen-free flame-retardant electrical cables
with a cone calorimeter and discussed the influence of two
parameters: external heat flux and the spacing between
cables. Fontaine et al. [22] studied the fire contribution of
an electrical cable by a revisited mass loss cone.
McGrattan et al. [16, 17] investigated the cable heat
release, ignition and spread in tray installations during a
fire. A prediction method for the peak full-scale heat
release rate (HRR) of electric cable trays [23] was con-
structed from the results of large-scale cable tray fire tests
[10] and studies of the fire behavior of cable samples

123

obtained at the bench scale [11]. However, electric cables
are always used for periods that exceed their lifetime and
are often not removed when the cable types are retired.
Emanuelsson et al. [9] studied the effect of accelerated
aging on the fire performance of building wires. The
related research is limited. Thus, the fire performance of
aged cables is also of great interest at present.
In this paper, a detailed description of the aging proce-
dure is first presented. Then, the structure and components
of the cable are analyzed in detail. The burning behavior of
new and aged cables is studied using a cone calorimeter, and
the thermal aging effect is discussed. The time-to-ignition
(TTI), HRR, duration of combustion, emissions and residues
were measured for different incident external heat fluxes.
The change in mechanical and electrical properties of the
new and aged cables is not included in the present work.
Materials and experimental procedure
Materials
One flame-retardant PVC cable (ZR-RVV) was used in this
work; it had an external diameter and a mass per unit
length of 10 mm and 119.41 g m-1, respectively. The
main components of the cable were PVC, chlorinated
paraffin, PET, PP, copper, plasticizers, etc. PVC has been
widely used in electrical insulation and jacketing materials
of wires and cables and is well-known and has been
extensively studied [24, 25]. The chlorinated paraffin can
be used as a flame retardant and an auxiliary plasticizer for
PVC-based cables. A more detailed configuration of the
cable is presented in Fig. 1.
Experimental
Aging procedure
We aged the PVC cable in an air-circulating oven to
observe any changes in the burning behavior during the
Fig. 1 Configurations of the cables
123
Z. Wang, J. Wang
thermal aging process. The cable samples were suspended
below a steel grid. Samples with a length of 200 mm that
did not touch each other were used to ensure the air stream
could pass freely around each sample. The pre-set tem-
perature in the oven was 100 ± 0.1 C. The cable samples
were removed from the oven at the periodic interval of
30 days. The mass of cable sample was first calculated as
the average mass of three samples exposed for the same
aging time. The cable samples were subsequently stored
under constants conditions until the fire properties could be
further studied using cone calorimetry.
Cone calorimeter
The fire behavior of the sample cables was investigated using
a cone calorimeter from Fire Testing Technology (FTT). The
cone calorimeter method based on oxygen consumption can
provide flammability parameters (HRR, TTI, etc.) to char-
acterize the fire properties of cables and has been found to be
a reliable method with good reproducibility and repeatability.
The literature contains numerous studies on the reduced-scale
fire characteristics of electrical cables [11, 14, 22], and the
reduced-scale results from a cone calorimeter have been
demonstrated to correlate well with the results from large-
scale fire tests [12, 23]. According to the recommendations in
standard ISO 5660 [26], the cables were cut into pieces 10 cm
long with a grid being used to avoid distortion of the cables
during the test. A grid may reduce the heat flux absorbed by
the sample, influencing the time of ignition. However, the
effect of grid on incident heat flux absorbed by sample can be
eliminated by reducing the surface area of grid in this study.
The grid consists of eight fine wires which are only 0.5 mm in
diameter, and the ratio of grid shielding area and the sample
surface area is about 7%. Before tests, the heat flux of sample
surface with grid or without has been also measured and the
reduction of heat flux is about 0.15–0.23% under different
incident heat fluxes. Herein, two cable samples spaced
20 mm apart were used for each experiment, as shown in
Fig. 2. The exposed surface of the cables was reduced, but the
calculation of HRR still considered the entire surface of the
sample holder (i.e., 100 cm2) [2]. The four external heat
fluxes used were 25, 35, 50 and 75 kW m-2, which corre-
spond to a low thermal aggression situation such as a mild fire
or a flashover situation, which are a strong and sudden ther-
mal aggression stress.
Results and discussion
Components
Electrical cables are very complex multilayer materials that
comprise several constituent parts, such as the sheath,
An experimental study on the fire characteristics of new and aged building wires using a cone…

HRi  Wi
Heat fraction ¼ P ð1Þ
j HRj  Wj

where HRi is the heat release of the component i. Wi is the

Fig. 2 Position of the cables in the sample holder
wrapping, bedding, insulation and copper. The composi-
tion, amount and morphology of each component, as well
as the cable’s structure, determine the flammability of the
entire cable. The cross section of a sample cable with the
major components is shown in Fig. 3. Severe discoloration
occurs after thermal aging in the right image in Fig. 3.
Discoloration during degradation indicates the occurrence
of structural changes. The mass of the cable was measured
with a FA214A electronic balance with a resolution of
0.1 mg and a range of 210 g. The mass of the cables at 30
and 60 days was 105.72 g m-1 and 92.64 g m-1, respec-
tively, slightly lower than that of the new cable. The mass
loss during the thermal aging treatment corresponds not
only to the loss of plasticizer but also to dehydrochlori-
nation [24, 27]. In addition, the sample cables were sepa-
rated and each component was weighed and analyzed to
elucidate its contribution to the total mass and heat release.
The heat release of each component was measured using a
combustion microcalorimeter (MCC-2, Govmark). Table 1
shows the heat release of combustion of each component of
cable with different thermal aging degrees. The heat frac-
tion of component i can be calculated based on the heat
release and mass fraction, which is defined as follows:
mass fraction of component i. Table 2 lists the mass and
heat fractions of the five main components of the sample
cables. Compared with those of the other nonmetallic
components, the contributions of the sheath and insulation
are most important. The sheath and insulation provide
approximately 59.3–66.1% of the mass fraction and
76.7–83.3% of the heat fraction. The mass and heat release
of new cables differ dramatically from those of aged
cables. Notably, the main difference in the nonmetallic
parts occurred after thermal aging.
Ignition of the cables
In fire scenarios, the ignition of solid materials plays an
important role in fire growth. In particular, the TTI can help
explain or predict the time sequence of events in a fire. The
TTI has not been carefully studied for new and aged cables.
The TTI results for cables subjected to thermal aging for
0 days, 30 days and 60 days are shown in Fig. 4. The TTI
for cables is inversely related to the external heat flux. The
maximum TTI values corresponding to thermal aging for
0 days, 30 days and 60 days were 160 s, 201 s and 309 s,
respectively, at a heat flux of 25 kW m-2, and the mini-
mum TTI is 18 s, 23 s and 29 s, respectively, at a heat flux
of 75 kW m-2. These results illustrate that cables with
higher thermal aging times had higher TTI values than
those with lower thermal aging times for the same heat
flux. An increase in the TTI indicates that the chemical
changes occur in active composition and structure due to
thermal aging.
Other authors have developed calculation models to
predict the TTI of flat sheets in a cone calorimeter under
different external heat fluxes, as shown in Eq. (2), and
relating to thermally thick and thin samples [28–30]:

Sheath

Wrapping Table 1 Heat release of each component by MCC-2

Bedding Age

Insulation New 30 days 60 days

Total heat release/kJ g-1
Copper
Sheath 16.2 13.3 12.8
Wrapping 25.0 29.5 28.6
Bedding 15.2 17.4 14.9
Insulation 18.0 16.6 15.3
Copper 0.0 0.0 0.0
Fig. 3 Description of the cables: schematic (left) and actual setup
(right)

123
 Z. Wang, J. Wang

Table 2 Mass and heat fraction of the main components

Age
New 30 days 60 days
Mass fraction/% Heat fraction/% Mass fraction/% Heat fraction/% Mass fraction/% Heat fraction/%

Sheath 0.373 0.448 0.335 0.370 0.329 0.394

Wrapping 0.014 0.026 0.015 0.037 0.015 0.040
Bedding 0.125 0.141 0.136 0.196 0.134 0.187
Insulation 0.288 0.385 0.288 0.397 0.264 0.378
Copper 0.200 0.000 0.226 0.000 0.258 0.000
Total 1 1 1 1 1 1

8 0 12 the cables differ among the different thermal aging times.

>
> p T  T
>
> ig 1 Indeed, the TTI values depend on the flammability prop-
>
> kqc@ : : A
<4 00
erties of the sheath, implying that a physical–chemical
q00e  qig;crit
TTI ¼ 0 1 ð2Þ change of the sheath occurred during the process of thermal
>
>
>
> qcd @ T ig  T 1
>
> : : A aging, which is in agreement with aforementioned analysis
: 00
q00e  qig;crit of the mass and heat fractions.

where k, q, c and d are the thermal conductivity Heat release rate

(W m-1 K-1), density (kg m-3), specific heat (J kg-1 -
K-1) and sample thickness (m), respectively. The variables The HRR is the most important parameter for defining a
Tig and T! are the temperature to ignition (K) and room fire hazard and needs to be a serious consideration when
temperature (K), and qe00 . and qig,crit00 . represent the external assessing the fire hazards of organic solids, liquids or gases.
heat flux (kW m-2) and the critical heat flux (kW m-2), Oxygen depletion without knowledge of the material’s
respectively. The TTI values, including the experimental chemical composition or combustion chemistry is the most
and calculated data from Eq. (2), are provided in Fig. 5. frequently used methodology and is based on Thornton’s
The symbols and lines denote experimental and calculated principle [31]. The HRR can be calculated using Eq. (3):
data, respectively. Comparing the thermally thin and  
thermally thick models, we find that the latter fits better to E m_ 0O2  m_ eO2
the experimental values. These results are consistent with HRR ¼ ; ð3Þ
As
previous works on diverse types of cables and verify that
the thermally thick model remains suitable for new and where HRR is the HRR (kW m-2), m_ 0O2 and m_ eO2 are the
aged cables. In addition, the thermally thick properties of mass flow rates of oxygen from the incoming air and in the
exhaust duct, respectively (kg s-1), E is the energy
400
New
30 days 0.30 0.12
320 60 days New
30 days
0.25 60 days 0.10
New
240 30 days
0.20 0.08
TTl–0.5/s–0.5

60 days
TTl/s

TTl–1/s–1

0.15 Thermally thick 0.06

160
behavior

0.10 0.04
80
0.05 Thermally thin 0.02
behavior
0 0.00 0.00
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Heat flux/kW m–2 Heat flux/kW m–2

Fig. 4 Time-to-ignition values for the cables Fig. 5 Verification of the validity of different ignition models

123
An experimental study on the fire characteristics of new and aged building wires using a cone…

100 120
New New
25 kW m–2 30 days 100 35 kW m–2 30 days
80 60 days 60 days
HRR/kW m–2

HRR/kW m–2
80
60
60
40
40

20
20

0 0

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time/s Time/s

140 200
New New
120 75 kW m–2
50 kW m–2 30 days
160
30 days
60 days 60 days
100
HRR/kW m–2

HRR/kW m–2
120
80

60 80

40
40
20
0
0

0 100 200 300 400 500 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Time/s Time/s

Fig. 6 Heat release rate for the cables at different heat fluxes

released per mass unit of oxygen consumed (* 13.1 ± 5%
MJ kg-1) [32], and As is the initial exposed surface area
(m2). In the present work, the HRR is measured on the
basis of the oxygen consumption principle.
Figure 6 shows the HRR curves for various external
heat fluxes for new and aged cables. The sheath is the first
component of decomposition. Other components, espe-
cially PVC insulation of cables, are then gradually heated
and degraded. The HRR values depend on the burning of
the sheath and insulation. Once the cables ignite, the HRR
first increases rapidly to a peak (pHRR) and then decreases
progressively over a few 100 s. The time-to-pHRR tends to
decrease, whereas the pHRR increases with increasing heat
flux. However, the behaviors of new and aged cables
strongly differ. For lower external heat fluxes, a substantial
difference is observed in the time-to-pHRR, pHRR and
time-to-flame out for new and aged cables. The pHRR
appears earlier, and the decomposition of polymer is
accelerated when further increasing the heat flux, leading
to an increase in the HRR and a higher pHRR. The fire
performance exhibits a slight change between new and
aged cables at a heat flux of 75 kW m-2.
The HRR decreased considerably after aging. The
pHRR data for the new cables and for those aged 30 days
and 60 days range of approximately 70–170 kW m-2,
40–150 kW m-2 and 30–140 kW m-2, respectively, under
various heat fluxes. As evident in Fig. 7, with increasing
heat flux, the increase in the pHRR is slower for new
cables, relatively slow for the cables aged for 30 days and
faster for the cables aged for 60 days. Note that the pHRR
for the new cables is in good agreement with previous
similar findings from Fontaine et al. [22], whereas devia-
tions exist in the pHRR for aged cables. The impact of
thermal aging on the PVC is mainly reflected in chain
breakage, HCl emission, and plasticizer volatility or
decomposition, which leads to increased hardness and
brittleness, decreased electrical insulation performance and
increased thermal stability [24, 27, 33]. Thus, different
combustion properties were observed for new and aged
cables.
Gas emissions and residues
During the combustion process, the oxygen (O2) in the
ambient air is consumed, and gaseous combustion products
are released. The main species concentrations and emission
yields were continuously tracked and measured using a
Servomex 4100 gas analyzer [34, 35]. Carbon monoxide

123
 Z. Wang, J. Wang

200 for new and aged cables related to the heat flux were
New Slope = 1.978 observed. Increasing thermal aging leads to substantially
30 days
160 60 days
decreased oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide pro-
duction at heat fluxes of 25–50 kW m-2. Inversely, no
pHRR/kW m–2

Slope = 1.829 significant effect on the quantity of each gas is observed

120
80 Slope = 2.204
40
0
20 30 40 50
Heat flux/kW m–2
Fig. 7 Peak values for the HRR for cables at different heat fluxes
was observed at very low concentrations and emission
yields, allowing its evolution to be ignored here. Figure 8
presents the evolutions of gaseous emissions during the
tests for external fluxes ranging from 25 to 75 kW m-2.
The quantity of carbon dioxide produced and oxygen
consumed increases with the heat flux. A higher heat flux
value and more carbon in the solid phase result in increases
in the released carbon dioxide. The enhanced thermal aging
can also affect the consumption of oxygen and the pro-
duction of carbon dioxide. Two behaviors of gases released
when the incident heat flux is increased to 75 kW m-2.
The change in the quantity of gas emissions verifies the
prediction of heat release and residues.
After the burning ceases, substantial residue from the
PVC cables remains. The mass of residue is in the range of
15 to 20 g and decreases with increasing incident heat flux.
The thermal aging effect only slightly influences the pro-
60 70 80
duction of residues at higher heat fluxes. Figure 9 shows
images of the burning residues of new and aged cables
under different heat fluxes. These residues are similar but
differ in terms of cohesion. The residue is less cohesive for
the same sample cable when the heat flux increases [22]. In
addition, embrittlement and cracking of the residue are
observed for the aged cables, consistent with the HRR for
all heat fluxes explored here.
Conclusions
To better understand the fire hazards associated with
electrical cables serving in practical application, fire
experiments using new and aged flame-retardant PVC

20.6 0.5 20.6 0.5

25 kW m–2 35 kW m–2
20.5 20.5
0.4 0.4

20.4 20.4
0.3 New 0.3
CO2/%

CO2/%
O2/%

O2/%

New 30 days
20.3 30 days 20.3 60 days
60 days New
0.2 0.2
New 30 days
20.2 30 days 20.2 60 days
60 days
0.1 0.1
20.1 20.1

20.0 0.0 20.0 0.0

0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400 500
Time/s Time/s
20.6 0.5 20.6 0.6
50 kW m–2 75 kW m–2
20.5 0.4 20.5 0.5

20.4 20.4 0.4

New 0.3 New
CO2/%

30 days 30 days
O2/%

O2/%

CO2/%

20.3 60 days 20.3 60 days 0.3

New New
30 days 0.2
30 days
20.2 60 days 20.2 60 days 0.2

0.1
20.1 20.1 0.1

20.0 0.0 20.0 0.0

0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400
Time/s Time/s

Fig. 8 Evolution of the gaseous emissions at different heat fluxes

123
An experimental study on the fire characteristics of new and aged building wires using a cone…
25kW m–2 35kW m–2 50kW m–2 75kW m–2
Fig. 9 Image of the burning residue at different heat fluxes: a new,
b aged 30 days and c aged 60 days
cables exposed to different incident heat fluxes were per-
formed in a cone calorimeter. The major conclusions can
be drawn as follows.
The mass fraction and heat fraction of the sample cables
depend on the nonmetallic components, mainly the sheath,
insulation and bedding. Thermal aging plays an important
role in determining changes in the cables. The longer aging
time results in more obvious discolorations and a higher
mass loss in combustible parts, which further reduces the
heat release.
The thermally thick properties of the new and aged
cables were verified both experimentally and theoretically.
The TTI increases with increasing thermal aging time but
decreases with the incident heat flux. Inversely, no signif-
icant difference is observed in the TTI for new and aged
cables as the heat flux is increased to 75 kW m-2. The
thermally thick model agrees well with the experimental
values for the TTI.
The changes in the HRR, time-to-pHRR, pHRR and
duration of burning are especially apparent for new and
aged cables at a low heat flux. At 75 kW m-2, the change
can also be observed but is not as remarkable as at low heat
fluxes. The pHRR increases with the heat flux. The
increase in the pHRR is relatively slow for new cables and
faster for aged cables. HRR and pHRR are inversely related
to the thermal aging time. However, the time-to-pHRR and
duration of burning increase with the thermal aging time
for a constant external heat flux.
The oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production
and residues were also investigated for new and aged
cables at various heat fluxes. The quantity of oxygen
consumed and carbon dioxide produced decreases with the
thermal aging time, which is consistent with the results
associated with the heat release. The mass and structure of
the residue present observable differences between the new
and aged cables.
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Key
R&D Program of China (No. 2016YFC0802500). The authors
gratefully acknowledge this support.
References
1. Kobayashi Y, Huang X, Nakaya S, Tsue M, Fernandez-Pello C.
Flame spread over horizontal and vertical wires: the role of
dripping and core. Fire Saf J. 2017;91:112–22.
2. Meinier R, Sonnier R, Zavaleta P, Suard S, Ferry L. Fire behavior
of halogen-free flame retardant electrical cables with the cone
calorimeter. J Hazard Mater. 2018;342:306–16.
3. Hirschler MM. Survey of fire testing of electrical cables. Fire
Mater. 1992;16(3):107–18.
4. Grzybowski S, Rakowska A, Thompson JE. Aging of poly-
ethylene for cable insulation. IEEE Trans Electr Insul. 1987;EI-
22(6):729–34. https://doi.org/10.1109/tei.1987.298934.
5. Motori A, Sandrolini F, Montanari GC. A contribution to the
study of aging of XLPE insulated cables. IEEE Trans Power
Deliv. 1991;6(1):34–42. https://doi.org/10.1109/61.103719.
6. Omastova M, Podhradska S, Prokes J, Janigova I, Stejskal J.
Thermal ageing of conducting polymeric composites. Polym
Degrad Stab. 2003;82(2):251–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0141-
3910(03)00218-0.
7. Tavares AC, Gulmine JV, Lepienski CM, Akcelrud L. The effect
of accelerated aging on the surface mechanical properties of
polyethylene. Polym Degrad Stab. 2003;81(2):367–73.
8. Fernandez-Pello A, Hasegawa H, Staggs K, Lipska-Quinn A,
Alvares N. A study of the fire performance of electrical cables.
Fire Saf Sci. 1991;3:237–47.
9. Emanuelsson V, Simonson M, Gevert T. The effect of accelerated
ageing of building wires. Fire Mater. 2007;31(5):311–26. https://
doi.org/10.1002/fam.944.
10. Tewarson A, Lee J, Pion R. Categorization of cable flammability,
part I, experimental evaluation of flammability parameters of
cables using laboratory-scale apparatus. EPRI (Electric Power
Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA) Project RP 1165–1, Factory
Mutual Research Corporation, Norwood, MA; 1979.
11. Sumitra P. Categorization of cable flammability: intermediate-
scale fire tests of cable tray installations. Interim report NP-1881,
Research Project 1165–1, Factory Mutual Research Corporation,
Norwood, MA; 1982.
12. Hirschler MM. Comparison of large-and small-scale heat release
tests with electrical cables. Fire Mater. 1994;18(2):61–76.
13. Barnes MA, Briggs PJ, Hirschler MM, Matheson AF, O’Neill TJ.
A comparative study of the fire performance of halogenated and
non-halogenated materials for cable applications. Part II tests on
cable. Fire Mater. 1996;20(1):17–37.
14. Elliot P, Whiteley R. A cone calorimeter test for the measurement
of flammability properties of insulated wire. Polym Degrad Stab.
1999;64(3):577–84.
15. Grayson SJ. Fire performance of electric cables-new test methods
and measurement techniques. Final report of EU SMT pro-
jectSMT4-CT96-2059. Interscience Communications London;
2000.
16. McGrattan KB, Lock AJ, Marsh ND, Nyden MR. Cable heat
release, ignition, and spread in tray installations during fire
(CHRISTIFIRE): phase 1-horizontal trays. NUREG/CR-7010,
U.S.NRC; 2012.
123

17. McGrattan KB, Bareham SD. Cable heat release, ignition, and
spread in tray installations during fire (CHRISTIFIRE) phase 2:
vertical shafts and corridors. Report NUREG/CR-7010, Volume
2, U.S.NRC; 2013.
18. Zavaleta P, Charbaut S, Basso G, Audouin L, editors. Multiple
horizontal cable tray fire in open atmosphere. In: Thirteenth
international conference of the fire and materials, San Francisco,
USA; 2013.
19. Courty L, Garo J. External heating of electrical cables and auto-
ignition investigation. J Hazard Mater. 2017;321:528–36.
20. Zavaleta P, Audouin L. Cable tray fire tests in a confined and
mechanically ventilated facility. Fire Mater. 2018;42(1):28–43.
21. Grayson S, Van Hees P, Green AM, Breulet H, Vercellotti U.
Assessing the fire performance of electric cables (FIPEC). Fire
Mater. 2001;25(2):49–60.
22. Fontaine G, Ngohang FE, Gay L, Bourbigot S. Investigation of
the contribution to fire of electrical cable by a revisited mass loss
cone. Fire Sci Technol. 2015;2017:687–93.
23. Babrauskas V. Heat release rates. SFPE handbook of fire pro-
tection engineering. Berlin: Springer; 2016. p. 799–904.
24. Jakubowicz I, Yarahmadi N, Gevert T. Effects of accelerated and
natural ageing on plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Polym
Degrad Stab. 1999;66(3):415–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-
3910(99)00094-4.
25. Brebu M, Vasile C, Antonie SR, Chiriac M, Precup M, Yang J,
et al. Study of the natural ageing of PVC insulation for electrical
cables. Polym Degrad Stab. 2000;67(2):209–21.
26. ISO I. 5660-1: 2015 Reaction-to-fire tests–Heat release, smoke
production and mass loss rate-Part 1: Heat release rate (cone
123
View publication stats
Z. Wang, J. Wang
calorimeter method) and smoke production rate (dynamic mea-
surement), Geneva. Switzerland: International Organization for
Standardization. 2015.
27. Zaikov GE, Gumargalieva KZ, Pokholok TV, Moiseev YV. PVC
wire coatings: part I-ageing process dynamics. Int J Polym Mater
Polym Biomater. 1998;39(1–2):79–125.
28. Hopkins D Jr, Quintiere JG. Material fire properties and predic-
tions for thermoplastics. Fire Saf J. 1996;26(3):241–68.
29. Rhodes BT, Quintiere JG. Burning rate and flame heat flux for
PMMA in a cone calorimeter. Fire Saf J. 1996;26(3):221–40.
30. Schartel B, Hull TR. Development of fire-retarded materials—
interpretation of cone calorimeter data. Fire Mater.
2007;31(5):327–54.
31. Thornton WXV. The relation of oxygen to the heat of combustion
of organic compounds. Lond Edinb Dublin Philos Mag J Sci.
1917;33(194):196–203.
32. Huggett C. Estimation of rate of heat release by means of oxygen
consumption measurements. Fire Mater. 1980;4(2):61–5.
33. Quennehen P, Royaud I, Seytre G, Gain O, Rain P, Espilit T,
et al. Determination of the aging mechanism of single core cables
with PVC insulation. Polym Degrad Stab. 2015;119:96–104.
34. Chen M, Yuen R, Wang J. An experimental study about the effect
of arrangement on the fire behaviors of lithium-ion batteries.
J Therm Anal Calorim. 2017;129(1):181–8.
35. Wei R, He Y, Zhang Z, He J, Yuen R, Wang J. Effect of different
humectants on the thermal stability and fire hazard of nitrocel-
lulose. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2018;1:1–17.