Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Full scale fire tests have been conducted in buildings to compare the effect of combustion products on concrete building elements when the fire load was totally cellulosic and when 30 per cent of the fire load was PVC. After the fire the buildings were kept under observation and at intervals concrete roof elements were removed and loaded to structural failure. Samples of the concrete were then analysed for chloride content. The tests have shown that in fires involving PVC, chloride deposition can occur on concrete surfaces under both dry and humid conditions. Observations and analyses of the concrete for periods of up to 13 months after the fires showed no indications that the building suffered structurally because of the effects of the chloride. Under the conditions of these tests, corrosion is unlikely to be a problem in dense concrete constructions whether of a reinforced or prestressed nature provided the relevant British Standard Codes of Practice have been complied with.