Can They Take the Heat?
This article describes that fire researchers apply old and new tests to assure that materials meet safety requirements. Baltimore-based Hughes Associates Inc., a fire research firm, uses standard tests and computer modeling, and, in some cases, will develop tests to ensure that new building products satisfy the safety requirements of existing building codes. Hughes Associates also facilitates contact between its client and the appropriate code-making organizations, whether local, state, federal in the case of governmental agencies, or internationally through its offices in Singapore and in Milan, Italy. The data derived from the small-scale tests are also used in flame spread computer modeling testing. These tests use a series of proprietary computer modeling programs to predict the behavior of the product’s flames—for example, how high the flames would reach, and how quickly they would spread. The development of amusement park attractions is driving fire testing to prove that these attractions meet the stringent public assembly provision in fire codes.