UL 10C Standard for Safety Positive Pressure Fire Tests of Door Assemblies

Introduction to UL 10C Standard

Fire doors play an important role in ensuring life safety and property protection. Fire doors are usually located at emergency exits, which can separate fires for a certain period of time, prevent the spread of fire, and ensure the evacuation of people and crowds. NFPA 252, UL 10B, and UL 10C are important standards for evaluating the fire resistance of fire doors, mainly including fire resistance tests and hose flushing tests. UL 10C involves positive pressure fire testing of fire doors to evaluate their performance, particularly their ability to maintain their secure assembly during testing.

UL 10C Scope of Application

UL 10C is suitable for various types of fire doors, including revolving doors, sliding or rolling doors, horizontal sliding elevator doors, access doors, chute doors, elevator doors, service counter doors

UL 10C Fire Resistance Test

The test sample (door component) is installed in the test wall component, which is typically composed of masonry, drywall, and bolted structures. Install the entire testing component into the testing furnace and expose it to the specified temperature for the specified time. The furnace temperature is measured by nine thermocouples evenly distributed in the furnace, and controlled according to the specified time temperature curve. The furnace pressure must be established within 5 minutes of the start of the test and maintained throughout the entire refractory test period.

UL 10C is a positive pressure fire test, and the neutral pressure plane should be established 40 inches from the bottom of the test sample. This means that the area below the neutral pressure plane will be in a negative furnace pressure state, while the area above the neutral pressure plane will be in a positive furnace pressure state. The negative furnace pressure area can cause ambient air on the unexposed surface to be drawn into the furnace, passing through the interface between the door and frame, as well as other components during assembly. In the positive furnace pressure area, the hot furnace gas will be forcibly pushed through the interface between the door and the frame, as well as other components in the assembly, which may increase the risk of test sample splitting.

The main contents of UL 10C standard include:

1. Fire resistance test: Evaluate the fire resistance of fire doors under standard flame and high temperature conditions, usually divided into different time levels, such as 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 120 minutes, etc.

2. Thermal insulation test: Measure the ability of fire doors to prevent heat transfer in a fire environment to ensure that the temperature on the other side of the door is not too high.Fire doors need to limit the heat radiation generated by flames and ensure that it does not cause excessive heat to the other side of the door. It is generally required that the temperature rise on the other side of the door should not exceed 250 ° F (121 ° C).

3. Smoke penetration test: Evaluate the ability of fire doors to prevent smoke penetration in a fire, in order to protect personnel evacuation and reduce The impact of smoke on the interior of buildings.

4. Operation test: Check the operational performance of the fire door under normal use conditions, including the smoothness and accessibility of the switch

5. Structural integrity: Ensure that the fire door maintains structural integrity in the event of a fire, without damage or collapse

UL 10C hose flushing test

The hose flushing test shall be conducted immediately after the fire resistance test, and the test components shall be subjected to the impact, erosion, and cooling effects of water jet within 3 minutes. Firstly, the water flow should point towards the center of the bottom, and then cover all exposed surfaces. The water jet should be applied in a smooth and stable manner to ensure that all parts of the test component are impacted by the jet. If the duration of the fire resistance test is 1 hour and the exposed area is 2.4 square meters, the water pressure at the bottom of the water pipe should be 207 kPa, and the duration of the jet should be 24 seconds.

UL 10C judgment criteria

The door must remain intact during the fire resistance test and hose flushing test;

During the testing period, the component must not have any openings (openings refer to holes that can be seen from the unexposed side when evaluated from the vertical direction of the component plane);

For components with a fire exposure time of 1.5 hours or less, slight glass detachment is allowed under specific conditions;

◎ Allow separation between the joint edges of paired doors, but within specified limits;

The opening between the bottom edge of the door and the threshold is acceptable, but it still needs to be within the limit.