Cycle testing of fire doors
In line with its ongoing commitment to developing new products and verifying changes in designs, materials and construction methods, Pyropanel Developments has developed a cyclic test rig enabling full sized fire doors to be tested. This new testing apparatus complements the door-sized pilot fire furnace used to fire test prototype designs. The primary goals of cycle testing complete fire doors are to make sure that they can withstand the operational forces endured throughout their life cycle, as well as maintain their performance requirements in preventing the spread of fire.
In line with its ongoing commitment to developing new products and verifying changes in designs, materials and construction methods, Pyropanel Developments has developed a cyclic test rig enabling full sized fire doors to be tested. This new testing apparatus complements the door-sized pilot fire furnace used to fire test prototype designs.
The primary goals of cycle testing complete fire doors are to make sure that they can withstand the operational forces endured throughout their life cycle, as well as maintain their performance requirements in preventing the spread of fire.
Over time, wear and tear could compromise the fire resistance level of the doors. Cracks may appear in the timber door edge strips, hinges can come loose or wear out and sometimes the door skins delaminate from the core. The test rig allows Pyropanel to increase the aggressiveness of the test to find weak spots or failure points in doors (i.e. slamming against door jamb, bouncing off door stops and closing against misaligned door frames).
In addition, there are opportunities to improve the design of fire doors to suit newly available materials, different walling systems and construction techniques.
The cyclic test rig developed by Pyropanel is able to support full-sized fire doors of various thicknesses and weights, up to 2.7m high and 1.02m wide. A pneumatic operator opens the door and the hydraulic door closer returns the door to the closed position.
The test rig will help Pyropanel ensure that various door leaf constructions can withstand the torsional forces and repeat impact loads experienced over the life of a door and potentially allow for a door leaf to be fire tested after cycle testing.
In some markets (such as Malaysia) that Pyropanel is targeting, fire doors must be cycle tested as well as fire tested. It is hoped that this new test rig will lead to end users having even more confidence in Pyropanel products, in addition to allowing assessment of alternative construction designs and/or materials to be effectively trialed faster.
