Experimental Study on Scale Effect on Mass Loss Rate of Some Woods

Experimental measurements have been done for mass loss rate of some woods usingcone calorimeter and radiation platform for studying fire performance of materials at early stage, respectively. The experiments have indicated that both sample scale and apparatus scale affect the mass loss rate obviously. Generally, average mass loss rate of larger sample is higher than that of smaller sample. Scale has little effect on the first peak of mass loss rate, but it shows a distinct effect on the second peak. The second peak of mass loss rate of larger sample is much higher than that of smaller sample. There may be a critical sample size for the second peak existence. The sample in cone calorimeter can be ignited easily with stable and long time continuous flame compared with radiation platform under the same heat flux.