ASTM E648 Critical Radiant Flux of Floor-Covering Systems

Scope:

ASTM E648 is useful in assessing one of the characteristics of fire exposure behavior for floor-covering systems. This test method is also suitable for regulatory statutes, specification acceptance, design purposes, development, and research. The test is also important for samples of floor-covering systems that follow standard installation procedures.

Procedure:

The radiant heat energy source is inclined at 30° and directed at the floor covering system specimen. The radiant panel has then produced a radiant energy flux distribution ranging from a maximum of 1.0 W/cm² to a minimum of 0.1 W/cm² along the 100-cm length of the test specimen. The test then started with an open flame from a pilot burner. From the flux profile graph, the distance burnt to flame-out is converted to watts per square centimeter and reported as critical radiant flux, W/cm².

Specimen Size:

Test specimens should be conditioned at temperature 21 ± 3 °C and a relative humidity of 50 ± 5% 

Data:

The mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation of the critical radiant flux test data on the three specimens in accordance with ASTM standard practice is calculated as:

s = √(Ʃ X ² − n X¯ ²) / n – 1 and ν = s /X ¯ × 100

Where,
s = estimated standard deviation,
X = value of single observation,
n = number of observations,
X¯ = arithmetic mean of the set of observations, and
ν = coefficient of variation.