Realization of different electric signal fire resistant cables and carrying out of a ‘real scale’ test. analysis and discussion of the obtained results

The installation of fire resistant cables in the electric power networks inside buildings and public areas (e.g. undergrounds, cinemas, theatres, etc.) is a key factor for people´s safety. For this reason such cables must respond to very severe requirements, settled in many international standards. The present research work investigates the influence of several manufacturing parameters of low voltage fire resistant cables on their behaviour during standard fire tests. The aim of the work is to relate the manufacturing characteristics of several cable models with the relevant fire test output data via statistical analysis (i.e. Weibull and Design of Experiments (DoE) analysis) in order to optimize the cables for fire resistance purposes and minimize the production cost.