Fire behavior of timber products with and without fire retardant

Timber products are commonly used in the Far East as partitioning, lining, and furniture materials. There are concerns on the fire behavior of those materials, and fire retardants are suggested to apply over the timber surface for upgrading the fire safety provision. However, the materials were also burned out under post-flashover fire as observed in the past fire records. Plywood is of the most concern, as large volume is used in the market. Therefore, the fire behavior of timber products treated with fire retardants under post-flashover fires should also be understood. In this article, samples of plywood commonly used in the market, with and without fire retardants, were preliminarily assessed by a cone calorimeter. Three types of plywood with different surface treatment were tested under heat fluxes of 20, 50, and 70 kWm-2. Both thermal aspects and smoke toxicity of burning those materials will be assessed.Department of Building Services Engineerin