Exponent’s Cone Calorimeter is located at the Fire Engineering and Thermal Sciences (FETS) Laboratory in the Bowie, MD. Domestically, ASTM E 1354 and NFPA 271, “Standard Test Method for Heat and Visible Smoke Release Rates for Materials and Products Using an Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter” are the standards for the assembly of the Cone Calorimeter apparatus, the Cone’s calibration procedure, and its test protocol. Internationally, the applicable standard is ISO 5660-1, “Reaction to fire tests - Heat release, smoke production, and mass loss rate - Part 1: Heat release rate (cone calorimeter method).” ASTM E 1354, NFPA 271, and ISO 5660-1 are essentially identical except the ISO standard does not address smoke production. Exponent’s Cone is capable of performing these tests on variety of materials, as well as several other specific standardized tests that can be used to determine the material fire properties of furniture and mattress components, wall covering materials, and electrical wire/cable coverings. These standardized tests include:
- ASTM D 6113 - Standard Test Method for Using a Cone Calorimeter to Determine Fire-Test-Response Characteristics of Insulating Materials Contained in Electrical or Optical Fiber Cables
- ASTM E 1474 - Standard Test Method for Determining the Heat Release Rate of Upholstered Furniture and Mattress Components or Composites Using a Bench Scale Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter
- ASTM E 1740 - Standard Test Method for Determining the Heat Release Rate and Other Fire-Test-Response Characteristics of Wallcovering Composites Using a Cone Calorimeter
- ASTM F 1550 - Standard Test Method for Determination of Fire-Test-Response Characteristics of Components or Composites of Mattresses or Furniture for Use in Correctional Facilities after Exposure to Vandalism, by Employing a Bench Scale Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter
- NFPA 272 - Standard Method of Test for Heat and Visible Smoke Release Rates for Upholstered Furniture Components or Composites and Mattresses Using an Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter
- ISO 5660-2 - Reaction to fire tests - Heat release, smoke production and mass loss rate - Part 2: Smoke production rate.
Cone testing can also be utilized by a product manufacturer who is looking to change a component within a product to a new material and wishes to investigate the affect, if any, that change would have on the product’s fire safety. In these cases, testing the new component and the old component in the Cone and comparing the thermal properties of the two can be performed in lieu of more expensive full-scale testing. Recently many flame-retardants, such as Bromine, commonly found in consumer plastics and textiles are being replaced by other chemicals due to health and environmental risks associated with some brominated flame-retardants. The Cone is also commonly used as a screening tool for new plastic or textile materials that are in the development. Before undergoing more expensive or complicated regulatory tests, such as ASTM E84 or Hot Wire tests CEI-IEC 60695-2 and ASTM D3874, the Cone can compare the thermal properties of the materials and weed out the worst performers (i.e. ignitability, energy released, and smoke production). Exponent has performed Cone testing for clients developing between 1 and 20 new materials and before submitting them all to other regulatory tests, used the results from the Cone to find the top performers, saving the client time and money in the process.
In the past decade, advances in computing power have made Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) models more popular among the engineering community. The Cone can be used to determine many of the important physical fire properties (i.e. heat release rate per unit area) these models need in order to create an accurate simulation of the burning material.
Exponent’s Thermal Sciences practice cannot only provide the lab facilities to perform Cone testing, but can also provide the expertise to analyze the results of the tests and provide guidance to the client. With each Cone test the client will receive a "Cone Calorimeter Test Report" and the option for a videotape of the tests, images of the specimens before and after the testing, and data files (as a spreadsheet).
For questions on the Cone Calorimeter, proposal requests, or pricing and availability please contact Andrew Blum at