FIRE DESIGN OF CLT IN EUROPE
Keywords:
building fires, charring, reaction to fire, fire resistance, detailing, performance based designAbstract
The fire safety design of cross-laminated timber (CLT or X-Lam) in Europe is governed by the Construction Products Regulation and its essential requirements, as for all other building products. These requirements are mandatory, to be used in all European countries. They include classification systems for reaction to fire of building products, fire resistance of building elements, and structural Eurocodes. The reaction-to-fire performance of CLT in accordance with the European classification system is specified. Higher classes can be reached by chemical treatments, but the durability of the reaction-to-fire performance needs to be fulfilled according to a new European system. The fire resistance design of CLT building elements is not included in Eurocode 5, the structural Eurocode for timber, but can be either tested according to European standards or calculated by using design methods being developed recently. This article provides information about both reaction to fire and fire resistance of CLT in Europe.
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