Application Development of Smoke Leakage Test Apparatus for Door Sets in the Field

Abstract

Heavy smoke from building fires is the main cause of casualties. As smoke typically diffuses through building openings, smoke control performance of building openings is critical to survival and requires considerable attention. In the past, the detection method could only be used in the laboratory, and the detection equipment could not be moved. Therefore, the main purpose of this research was to develop a methodology for field testing of smoke control properties of doors in order to ensure that the smoke control performance of doors tested in the laboratory and doors installed in the field can be realized without any discrepancy. Furthermore, this test method underwent a comparison test with the CNS 15038 “Method of Test for Evaluating Smoke Control Performance of Doors” for the same subject. The test results showed no significant difference based on independent sample testing, demonstrating the feasibility of this test method and test apparatus. The instrument developed by this research is light and easy to carry, and the operation method is simple. Such a test method can be applied to different doors and is non-destructive, non-hazardous, and reusable. In the future, by extending the design principle of the system, this test method can be applied to other fire protection equipment for the inspection of smoke control capabilities and can be used as a reference for relevant organizations to establish test specifications and standards.