Effects of surface flame spread of medium density fiberboard on the ISO room fire

Surface burning areas of medium density fiberboard lining installed at walls and ceiling of the ISO room enclosure were estimated using surface temperatures measured in the full-scale enclosure fire tests. Based on the surface burning areas, the development of surface flame spread at the lining surface has been assessed experimentally. The resultant surface flame spread at different burning times was attempted to correlate with other important experimental data associated with the enclosure fire growth, including heat release, room temperatures, heat flux imposed on the floor, the interface height of hot and cold gas layer, etc. Results showed that in the medium density fiberboard lined ISO room fire the surface burning area was a critical factor that significantly influenced the enclosure fire growth and could be reasonably well correlated to many other parameters of the enclosure fire. The study not only investigated the effect of surface flame spread of the lining on the enclosure fire growth in-depth, but also produced useful experimental data and analyses for the further development of numerical modeling for the enclosure fires lined with the combustible lining material.