Full-scale Burning Tests on Glass Double-Skin Façade Systems

Fire hazards in tall curtain-walled buildings with double-skin façades (DSF) have not yet been studied thoroughly. Large-scale fire testing will advance the understanding of the fundamental physics and chemistry behind such fires. Full-scale burning tests on part of a DSF system were thus carried out at a facility in a small town in Northern China. Selected data from the tests will be reported in this presentation. Flame and smoke spread in a room fire with flashover to the façade cavity is the key phenomenon of fire hazard of DSF. Flame and smoke would heat up the upper interior glass pane. Breaking the exterior glass pane would drive the hot smoke out. However, breaking the upper interior glass pane is disastrous as it creates a flow channel for smoke and flame to spread to upper stories. Full-scale burning tests on glass façade fires were performed. Data for understanding the fire physics of DSF and justifying fire models will be reported. These results are useful for Authorities Having Jurisdiction to justify the fire hazard assessment of the green architectural feature DSF.