Evaluation of Window Failure Modes
Abstract
A furnace test was conducted to investigate a possible cause of premature failures of one-hour fire-rated window assemblies in a previous test series. In the previous series, two of the four A-30 window assemblies and one of the four A-60 window assemblies failed within eight and ten minutes after the beginning of the test exposure. A suspected cause was damage by welding slag from the attachment of the thermocouples to the window frame. To investigate the suspected cause, the unexposed face of an A-30 window assembly was damaged using welding slag. One damaged window assembly fractured when it was installed in the test bulkhead. A second A-30 window was damaged using welding slag and tested side by side with an undamaged A-30 window. Both windows performed similarly without failure. Thus, damage from welding slag is unlikely to be the cause of the premature failures in the previous test series. The fire test followed Resolution A.754(18) of the International Maritime Organization with some exceptions. The main exception was termination of the test after 35 minutes. The window frames in this test were not the same design as those in previous test series due to unavailability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA376419