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Acetylation is a type of commercial wood modification used to enhance the durability of wood. Despite its adoption, especially in outdoor environments, there are mixed data on how acetylation affects the combustion of wood. This paper evaluates the differences in acetylated and untreated wood using a cone calorimeter in combination with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to look for acetic acid vapors in the combustion gases. Two thicknesses of acetylated pine boards were tested and compared against an untreated board from the same genus. No differences were observed between the peak heat release between the acetylated and untreated boards. Likewise, there were no trends in the time to ignition between the acetylated wood and the control group. Differences were observed however in the chemical composition of the combustion products. An increase in acetic acid in the products of combustion was observed for the acetylated samples that corresponded with the peak heat release of the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In the United States, wood has been traditionally used in residential construction. However, the combustibility of wood still limits its use as a building material in prescriptive building codes, and to overcome the limitations, performance‐based codes can be used. In order to properly analyze performance‐based designs, more information on the fire performance of materials is required, including fire performance under different fire exposures. The char rate when timber elements are exposed to the standard time‐temperature curve have been well characterized and can be used to determine the fire‐resistance rating. However, much less is known about the rate of char formation under other fire exposures and time‐temperature curves. In this study, we used time‐temperature data from full‐scale compartment fire tests and applied that data in an intermediate‐scale horizontal furnace. By measuring the furnace temperature, fuel consumption, and heat flux during the various tests, we identified that the furnace could closely replicate the shape of a real time‐temperature fire curve from a ventilation controlled compartment. However, the furnace fell short in terms of meeting the peak temperatures at flashover and heat fluxes expected in a real compartment fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Recently, measured flame spread indices on commercial wood species tested per ASTM E84 were found to be lower than previously published data. One reason for this may be that the hygrothermal conditioning of the red oak calibrant required by the test standards for measuring flame spread was changed between 1973 and 1981. This paper examines how much variability there is in the moisture content of commercially important wood species at 50% relative humidity by collecting water vapor sorption isotherms. Additionally, the effect of moisture content on the flame spread was evaluated after conducting 14 tests with eastern white pine in accordance with CAN/ULC‐S102 and four in accordance with ASTM E84 at four commercial test laboratories. For the sorption isotherms, it was found that the moisture contents at 50% relative humidity ranged from 6.8% to 11.4% moisture content and depended on the species and whether the specimens had been conditioned in absorption or desorption. The flame spread indices, as measured as different laboratories, also varied from 37% at 10.4% reported moisture content to 200% at 6.5% reported moisture content. The findings suggest that the wood moisture content and conditioning requirements of the standards are important test variables that affect the flame spread results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shou sugi ban, also known as yakisugi, or just sugi ban, is an aesthetic wood surface treatment that involves charring the surface of dimensional lumber, such as exterior cladding. The goal of this research is to examine the effect of shou sugi ban on the flammability and decay resistance of wood. Several species and variants of commercially available sugi ban were tested. The flammability was examined from the heat release rate curves using the oxygen consumption method and cone calorimeter. Durability was examined with a soil block assay for one white-rot fungus and one brown-rot fungus. The testing showed that the shou sugi ban process did not systematically improve the flammability or durability of the siding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]