A purpose-built house constructed mainly with steel shows potential to resist the extreme heat of an Australian bushfire as severe as those in Victoria in February 2009.
The National Association of Steel Housing (NASH) designed the test house to examine the resistance of steel framed housing to bush fire.
The CSIRO undertook the flame testing of the low-rise house on April 16 this year.
The house was constructed with steel frames as well as steel outer walls, under-floors and roof cavities. The test flames emulated the ferocity of an Australian bush fire, engulfing the house.
The air temperature near the exposed face reached around 1,100 degrees Celsius for two minutes during the flame immersion phase.
Initial assessments reported by NASH indicate that all steel elements appeared to have performed well and interior surfaces (mainly plasterboard with timber skirting and architraves), showed thermal effects but were basically intact.
The test points to a potential for such steel fabrication to be an effective, low-cost solution for construction of fire resistant housing, particularly in bushfire-prone areas in Australia.
The aim is to meet new building codes introduced by the Royal Commission following the Victorian bushfires in February 2009. These new building codes specify that a building that is constructed in a designated bushfire prone area must be designed and constructed to reduce the risk of ignition from a bushfire while the fire front passes.
The flame test will feature in presentations at the FrameCad display at the DesignBUILD 2010 Expo in Melbourne from June 23-25 this week.
