Behaviour of Fire Resistant Cable Insulation with Different Flame Barriers During Water Immersion

Globally, emphasis is placed on increased security in the field of human health protection during the fire. That is, why fire resistant, flame retardant and halogen-free cables are more used in public buildings. Their using can improve fire safety and fire rescue capability. Although, the fire performance is a priority for these cables, we cannot neglect the others important properties of core insulation. Changes of electro physical properties may be related with modifications of insulation in order to limit smoke, fumes and halogen or improve their fire resistance and maintain circuit integrity of vital emergency services (e.g. fire alarm). New insulation materials and cable constructions should be tested for different operating environment and emergency situations. The intention of our experiment was to simulate unexpected events during operation such as flooding of cable systems and water ingress through the open ends of the cables or damaging of the sheath. The paper presents the results of laboratory tests of fire resistant cable insulated cores with different types of flame barrier in case of long-term contact with water.