Peter Walter is the technical and development director for Tratos. In the video, he introduces Tratos’ cable fire tests and their internal testing facilities.
When a cable is exposed to fire, several events can transpire. At Tratos facility, we ensure the smoke produced meets acceptable standards. This includes checking that there are no harmful acidic gases within the smoke, and ensuring the cable doesn’t let the fire spread to other areas of a building. Smoke from cables can have acidic gases like hydrogen chloride. At Tratos, we conduct tests to measure the amount of smoke produced in a three-meter cube and analyze the smoke’s components. We also assess if a burning sample emits any acidic gases.
Propagation is crucial. If a cable catches fire, it’s important to determine if it would further the fire’s spread from one room to another. In our factory, we have large-scale vertical propagation tests where we ignite a fire at the base and observe its progression. In real-life situations, after some time, either sprinklers will activate or firefighters will intervene with water. Tratos tests replicate this by exposing a burning cable to impact and later to water spray, imitating real fire scenarios. Cables must pass this comprehensive three-month test within Europe.
Under the construction product regulation, there’s a combined test measuring the reaction of cables to fire. Inside the Tratos CPR test facility, we can evaluate and quantify all these factors. We customize our cables to fit specific application needs and are always innovating and developing to meet these requirements.
