Abstract
The insulation panels developed in this study are composed of wood shavings compressed into a mat with a density of 110 kg/m3 without any binder. This mat is lapped with plastic film that works as a damp proof course. This paper describes fire tests conducted with a full-scale-thick wooden frame wall that was sandwiched with wood-fiber cement board and plasterboard. The test wall was filled with 100-mm-thick wood shaving insulation panels or fiberglass insulators, or a hollow. These three types of wall were examined for heat shielding effect and cross section loss of wood column (105mm by105mm). The results revealed that the test wall filled with our insulation panels had a higher heat shielding performance than other walls. This is because charring of wood shavings generates water and some of it remains near the rear surface of the panels due to an existence of plastic film, and consequently, the water consumes vaporization energy and resulted in keeping a temperature lower than of around 100°C. The heat shielding performance was found to have a quality equivalent to the 60-minute quasi-fireproof performance stipulated in the Building Standard Law of Japan. Furthermore, our insulation panel was found to provide a wall less cross section loss of wood column than a wall filling with fiberglass. This suggests that wood shaving insulation panels are superior to fiberglass in terms of structural safety by fire as well as heat shielding performance.
