Search

The performance of Nigeria structural wood species under fire exposure to prevent structural collapse have not been adequately researched. This paper explores the charring rate of six identified structural wood species. They are: terminalia superba (Afara), milicia excelsa (Iroko), khaya ivorensis (Mahogany), mansonia altissima (Mansonia), nauclea diderrichii (Opepe), and tectona grandis (Teak). The densities of the wood species were determined at Moisture Contents (MC) of 9.0, 12.0, and 15.0%. Samples from each of the selected species, were exposed to fire at temperature ranges of 20° to 230°C for 30 minutes; 20° to 300°C for 60 minutes; 230° to 600° C for 30 minutes. Empirical statistical model was developed for charring rate of the samples. The models were analysed using ANOVA at α0.05. At 60 minutes (20° to 300°C), Opepe of 9.0, 12.0 and 15.0% MC had the lowest charring rates of 0.44±0.03mm/min, 0.46±0.05mm/min and 0.45±0.03mm/min respectively, while Afara exhibited the highest charring rates of 0.74±0.02mm/min, 0.74±0.02mm/min and 0.68±0.02mm/min at the three MC levels. At temperature ranges of 20° to 230°C, and 12% MC, it showed that at r = 0.836, there is a linear positive correlation between the experimental charring rate and predicted charring rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]