Fire Behavior of Building Insulation Materials: TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter Test Results (ISO 5660-1)
Core Keywords: TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter, insulation material fire behavior, ISO 5660-1 fire test, building insulation fire performance, heat release rate testing
Meta Description: Explore accurate fire behavior test results of building insulation materials via TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter following ISO 5660-1, covering ignition time, HRR, MARHE, and smoke production data for construction safety reference.
Published Date: 2026.07.27
Abstract
Building insulation materials are essential for modern architectural energy conservation, sound insulation, and moisture protection, while their fire performance directly determines building fire safety and evacuation efficiency. This article presents a quantitative fire behavior test study on five differently formulated and colored insulation materials using the NETZSCH TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter in strict accordance with the ISO 5660-1 standard. Key fire performance indicators including time to ignition (TOI), peak heat release rate (Peak HRR), maximum average rate of heat emission (MARHE), and total smoke production (TSP) were systematically tested and compared. The test results reveal significant differences in fire resistance, heat release intensity, fire growth rate, and smoke emission among white, red, and grey insulation materials, providing reliable data support for material selection, construction fire safety design, and building fire protection compliance.
Introduction: Importance of Fire Performance for Building Insulation Materials
Insulation materials are core functional components of building facade and interior construction, undertaking multiple critical functions including thermal insulation, moisture regulation, sound absorption, and auxiliary fire resistance. Effectively reducing indoor and outdoor heat and cold transfer, these materials lower building energy consumption, stabilize indoor climate, and greatly improve residential comfort. In addition, high-quality insulation materials can suppress condensation, reduce airborne and impact noise transmission, and act as an effective fire barrier to delay flame spread.
With the continuous upgrading of global building safety standards, fire behavior has become a core evaluation indicator of insulation materials, second only to thermal performance. The flammability, heat release capacity, and smoke production of insulation materials directly affect fire spread speed, on-site smoke concentration, and personnel evacuation safety. Therefore, standardized quantitative fire testing is indispensable for verifying the safety and applicability of building insulation materials.
The TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter, compliant with the authoritative ISO 5660-1 fire test standard, is a professional testing device for quantitative evaluation of material fire behavior under fixed thermal radiation conditions. It can accurately capture multiple core fire performance parameters and realize intuitive and comparable evaluation of fire safety of different insulation material formulations.
Test Overview & Standard Test Conditions
To accurately compare the fire behavior differences of mainstream building insulation materials, this test selected five insulation samples with different colors and formulations, including white (Sample W), red (Sample R), and three grey gradient samples (Sample G4, G5, G6). All tests were completed in a stable laboratory environment with a temperature of 24–25°C and relative humidity of 22–23%, eliminating environmental interference with test data.
Basic Test Parameters
All samples were tested under unified ISO 5660-1 standard conditions to ensure data authenticity and comparability:
- Sample placement: Horizontal installation
- Fixed heat flow: 25 kW/m²
- Nominal airflow rate: 24.0 l/s
- Distance from cone heater: 25 mm
Sample Testing Quantity
To avoid accidental errors, repeated tests were carried out for each sample: 4 groups of tests for white samples, and 3 groups of repeated tests for red and all grey samples. The average value was taken as the final evaluation basis to ensure test accuracy.
Core Fire Performance Test Results & Analysis
Based on TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter test data, this study analyzes the fire behavior of insulation materials from four core dimensions: ignition performance, heat release intensity, fire growth rate, and smoke production performance.
1. Ignition Behavior (Time to Ignition, TOI)
Time to ignition refers to the time from the start of fixed thermal radiation (25 kW/m²) to the first visible flame on the material surface, which directly reflects the thermal stability and flame resistance of insulation materials. The shorter the ignition time, the easier the material is to pyrolyze and burn, and the lower the fire safety.
The test results show obvious hierarchical differences in ignition performance of different colored insulation materials:
- White insulation (Sample W): The average ignition time is only 414s, with the fastest pyrolysis speed and the weakest thermal radiation resistance, belonging to low flame resistance materials.
- Red insulation (Sample R): The average ignition time is 599s, with moderate ignition resistance, better than white materials but inferior to grey materials.
- Grey insulation (Sample G4/G5/G6): The average ignition time reaches 862s, with the slowest pyrolysis reaction and the strongest ability to resist external thermal radiation, showing excellent anti-ignition performance.
2. Heat Release Intensity (Peak HRR)
Heat Release Rate (HRR) is the core indicator of fire hazard, and Peak HRR represents the maximum instantaneous heat release of the material during combustion, which determines the fire spread speed and on-site fire intensity. Higher Peak HRR means greater fire risk and faster fire escalation.
The statistical average Peak HRR data of all samples are as follows:
- White insulation: Average Peak HRR 572.2 kW/m² (range: 496–647 kW/m²), presenting very high fire intensity and extreme combustion heat release capacity.
- Red insulation: Average Peak HRR 305.8 kW/m² (range: 254–345 kW/m²), with medium to high fire intensity.
- Grey insulation: Average Peak HRR 269.0–292.8 kW/m², stable medium fire intensity, and the lowest heat release risk among all tested samples.
3. Fire Growth Intensity (MARHE)
Maximum Average Rate of Heat Emission (MARHE) is a smoothed average heat release indicator, which can objectively evaluate the continuous growth ability of material fire and predict the development trend of building fires.
- White insulation: MARHE values range from 76.7 kW/m² to 90 kW/m², with most data exceeding 80 kW/m². It has the fastest fire growth speed and the most unstable combustion state, posing the highest fire hazard.
- Red insulation: MARHE values fluctuate between 37.7 kW/m² and 57.6 kW/m², with moderate fire growth intensity and obvious individual sample differences.
- Grey insulation: MARHE is mainly concentrated in 39–60 kW/m², with stable and controllable fire growth and the best comprehensive fire growth resistance.
4. Smoke Production Performance (Total Smoke Production, TSP)
Smoke production is a key indicator affecting personnel evacuation and fire hazard assessment. Excessive smoke will reduce visibility and produce toxic and harmful gases, greatly increasing fire casualties.
The test shows completely different smoke emission characteristics of the three types of insulation materials:
- Red insulation: The lowest total smoke production, with a stable plateau of 1290–1350 m² reached in 18 minutes, excellent smoke suppression performance.
- White insulation: Moderate smoke production (1450–1650 m²), reaching stable smoke output in only 15 minutes with fast smoke release speed.
- Grey insulation: The highest total smoke production (1650–1950 m²), requiring 25 minutes to reach a stable plateau, with large total smoke emission but slow release rate.
Test Conclusion & Engineering Application Guidance
Based on the full-dimensional test data of TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter under ISO 5660-1 standard, the fire performance of different colored building insulation materials is clearly stratified:
Grey insulation materials have the best comprehensive fire resistance, with the longest ignition time, lowest heat release intensity and stable fire growth, suitable for high-rise buildings, public buildings, and high fire-risk construction scenarios. Red insulation materials have outstanding smoke suppression performance and moderate fire resistance, applicable to conventional residential and commercial buildings with high requirements for smoke control. White insulation materials have poor fire resistance with fast ignition and high heat release, so they are only suitable for low-risk building parts with auxiliary fire protection measures.
This fully quantitative test verifies that the formula and color of insulation materials have a significant impact on fire behavior. The TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter can provide accurate, repeatable and standardized fire performance data for building insulation materials, helping manufacturers optimize material formulas, and guiding engineering designers to select compliant and safe insulation materials to meet modern building fire safety and energy-saving dual standards.
FAQ
Q1: What standard does the TCC 918 Cone Calorimeter test follow? A: All tests in this study strictly comply with the ISO 5660-1 international standard, adopting unified heat flow, airflow and installation conditions to ensure standardized and comparable test data.
Q2: Which insulation material has the best fire comprehensive performance? A: Grey insulation materials show the best comprehensive fire performance with the longest ignition resistance time, lowest Peak HRR and controllable fire growth; red materials excel in smoke suppression, while white materials have relatively weak fire resistance.
Q3: What core fire indicators can the cone calorimeter test detect? A: It can accurately measure time to ignition (TOI), heat release rate (HRR), peak heat release rate (Peak HRR), fire growth index (MARHE), total smoke production (TSP) and other key fire behavior parameters.