An Experimental Study on the Charring Rate of Solid Sawn Timber Exposed to Fire

In this study, we have measured the charring rate of solid sawn timber as a preceding step for develop performance based fire safety design method of wood framed building structures. The follows are the summary of fire test results carried out with mm cross-section Douglas-fir in varied of thickness and grain directions. I) When the timber thickness increase under same dimension, the charring rate decreases gradually. It is seemed the charring layer up on a thickness roles as a insulation, gives combustion delaying time to specimen. 2) The charring rates measured at different depths (10, 20, 30, 40 mm) in timber which varying thickness (20, 40, 80, 120 mm) when exposed maximum 1 hour standard fire increase by 30 mm depth, but decrease at 40 mm. It is seemed the minimum charr layer should be 30 mm for having role of insulation. 3) The charring rate of cross section surface (direction of perpendicular to grain) was more high than that of grain direction. It can be explained by the cracks and gaps from greater charr contraction made more heat flux incident into timber.