ETH fire simulator tests timber construction elements
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) have developed a new fire simulator. The stove can simulate various fire situations and is suitable, among other things, for tests in planned constructions of high-rise buildings made of wood.
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich have developed a new type of fire simulator. According to a media release, the oven, designed by the Institute of Structural Analysis and Design at the Department of Construction, can simulate a wide variety of fire situations. The knowledge gained from the tests should help to expand the use of wood as a sustainable building material.
The stove is intended to support sustainable timber construction, which is becoming increasingly attractive in Switzerland. Since 2015, multi-storey buildings have also been legally permissible. High-rise buildings made of wood with a height of up to 108 metres are being planned. Fire protection is all the more important here.
The stove is a metal cube reinforced with steel beams with a combustion chamber that is one metre high, one metre wide and just under 1.7 metres long. It is fired by ten gas burners, half of which are mounted on each of the two long sides. They can heat the oven to over 1400 degrees. Several cameras outside the combustion chamber record the tests and the composition of the fire gases can also be analysed.
“We can precisely adjust the temperature in the kiln and likewise the oxygen content,” Andrea Frangi, professor of wood construction and head of the simulation project, is quoted as saying in the press release. “The kiln allows us to simulate different fire courses and test their effect on the wood structures.” Wooden components can be loaded with up to 50 tonnes during the test. The development costs for the simulator amounted to 2.5 million Swiss francs.