Flame-Retardant Particleboard

Building codes in the U.S. and Canada are recognizing the concept of flame spread, particularly for rating wall paneling. Fire-retardant particleboard can be made by addition of chemicals like monoammonium phosphate or boric acid during manufacture. These can be added as dry powder or in solution. Data presented show addition of 10 percent boric acid by solution is equal to 15 percent added as a powder. Adding by solution has the disadvantage of requiring more drying time. A modified mild Schlyter test gave a good indication of the results to be expected in the ASTM E 84 tunnel test. The latter has been accepted as a standard test by many building codes including the National Building Code of Canada. In general, in Canada, a wood wall paneling with a flame spread of 75 or less will find widespread acceptance for parts of many public buildings. In order to obtain a flame spread rating of 75 for a panel having an untreated decorative face veneer, the particleboard core must be under 50. Adding an untreated face veneer to the flame-retardant core increased the flame spread from 5 to 40 above the rating of the core. The flame spread appeared to increase in direct proportion to the density of the face veneer with birch causing the greatest increase and mahogany least. Walnut, cherry, and teak had intermediate values.

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