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Journal of Wood Science

Official Journal of the Japan Wood Research Society

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Correlation between charring rate and oxygen permeability for 12 different wood species

Journal of Wood Science volume 53, pages 71–75 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The charring rates of 12 different wood species originating from Europe and the tropics with densities ranging from 350 to 750kg/m3 were investigated to obtain clues on their fire resistance behavior. This was done by measuring the thickness of the charred layer after a 30-min exposure to the standard fire ISO 834-1. No correlation was observed between charring rate and density. In search of another physical property that could be used as an indicator of fire resistance, the oxygen permeabilities of the selected wood types were measured. A strong correlation between oxygen permeability perpendicular to the wood fiber direction and charring rate was found, which is quite straightforward given that oxygen is the necessary component to enable smoldering and ignition, both affecting the charring rate. It seems that oxygen permeability is potentially more suitable as a parameter to evaluate the fire resistance of char-sensitive wooden constructions, rather than density. No general preference of the tree ring orientation from 0° (tangential) to 45° and 90° (radial) was found for these measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Building Technologies, Materials Science and Technology, Empa, Duebendorf, CH-8600, Switzerland

    Erich Hugi, Marcel Wuersch & Karim Ghazi Wakili

  2. Wood Laboratory, Materials Science and Technology, Empa, Duebendorf, CH-8600, Switzerland

    Walter Risi

Authors
  1. Erich Hugi
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  2. Marcel Wuersch
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  3. Walter Risi
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  4. Karim Ghazi Wakili
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erich Hugi.

Additional information

The publication of this article was made possible by an Emachu Research Fund. The authors are grateful for the fund.

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Hugi, E., Wuersch, M., Risi, W. et al. Correlation between charring rate and oxygen permeability for 12 different wood species. J Wood Sci 53, 71–75 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0816-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0816-1

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