Vitas Federation: Bunched Cable Vertical Flame Spread Tester Installation Case

Customer Background

Located in Xingang City, the capital of the Vitas Federation, the Xingang Construction Engineering Quality Testing Center is a third-party fire safety testing institution designated by the local housing and urban-rural development authority. The center primarily provides flame-retardancy performance verification services for electrical materials used in major projects, including commercial complexes, high-rise residential buildings, and rail transit infrastructure.

With the rapid expansion of infrastructure projects in the Vitas Federation over the past three years, the center's incoming inspection workload for wires and cables has increased by more than 40% annually. Its existing outdated testing equipment can no longer meet the rapidly evolving compliance requirements of the industry. Therefore, the center urgently needed to introduce internationally compliant equipment for vertical flame testing of bunched wires and cables, filling the local capability gap in high-precision flame-retardancy performance testing for cables.

Problems and Pain Points

Before introducing the new equipment, the testing center had been facing multiple operational challenges:

Insufficient ventilation control accuracy of the existing combustion chamber: The old combustion chamber had inadequate airflow control precision, with deviations in the airflow environment between different test batches reaching as high as 25%. This resulted in poor repeatability of test results for the same type of cable, and contradictory testing conclusions were reported for samples submitted under different projects.

High labor requirements for combustion parameter monitoring: The old equipment was not equipped with an automatic gas-flow and temperature calibration system. During testing, operators had to manually record combustion parameters every 10 minutes. A single Class B bunched cable combustion test required two testing personnel to remain on-site throughout the approximately 40-minute test, resulting in high labor costs.

Low efficiency in test data processing and report generation: The equipment did not have a built-in standardized automatic data-generation module. After each test, operators had to manually measure the char height and organize the original test data. It took up to two working days to issue a single test report, making it impossible to meet the requirements for expedited acceptance of local infrastructure projects.

Lack of internationally compliant local testing capabilities: Previously, there were no local testing facilities capable of conducting internationally compliant tests of this type. Some high-end cable products intended for export certification had to be sent to third-country laboratories for testing. This extended the testing cycle to more than 15 days, while the cost of each batch of testing was more than three times that of local testing services. Many local cable manufacturers had repeatedly expressed their concerns and requirements to the testing center.

Solution: Bunched Cable Vertical Flame Spread Tester

Based on the actual requirements of the testing center, the project team delivered a complete Bunched Cable Vertical Flame Spread Testing System designed to comply with the IEC 60332-3 international standard.

The overall solution consisted of four core components:

A fire-resistant and flame-retardant testing chamber

A high-precision propane combustion supply unit

An automatic environmental parameter control module

A visualized data acquisition and report generation system

After the equipment arrived at the customer's facility, technical engineers completed a seven-day on-site installation and commissioning process. At the same time, three operators from the testing center received comprehensive training covering the entire testing workflow, including specimen arrangement, parameter setting, test initiation, and post-test measurement.

This ensured that the equipment could be officially put into daily testing operations immediately after delivery and commissioning.

Equipment Advantages and Application Results

After the Bunched Cable Vertical Flame Spread Tester was put into operation, its performance exceeded the customer's expectations in several key areas.

Stable and Controlled Combustion Environment

The combustion chamber adopts a sealed fire-resistant and thermal-insulation structure and is equipped with a dynamic airflow balancing system. The system automatically regulates the airflow entering and exiting the chamber throughout the test.

The airflow stability deviation within the testing environment is controlled within 3%, substantially reducing the influence of external environmental factors on combustion test results.

High-Precision Gas and Flame Control

The high-precision gas control system can monitor and calibrate propane flow and flame temperature in real time.

No continuous manual monitoring is required during the test. Temperature, test time, and gas consumption data are automatically recorded and stored throughout the testing process, reducing errors caused by manual recording.

Automated Char Measurement and Data Processing

The integrated high-definition image acquisition module can automatically identify the charred boundary on the surface of the cable after the test and accurately measure the height of flame-induced char propagation.

The measurement error is controlled within 5 mm. The post-test processing work that previously required approximately two hours can now be completed within 10 minutes.

Efficient Test Report Generation

The equipment incorporates multiple standardized report templates for different national standards. According to the requirements of the commissioning party, formal test reports meeting the requirements of local housing and urban-rural development authorities and export certification bodies can be generated with a single operation.

The efficiency of test report generation has increased by more than 90%.

Key Problems Solved

After the new equipment was put into operation, the testing center's major previous pain points were effectively addressed.

Improved Test Repeatability

The problem of poor repeatability of the previous equipment was effectively resolved. In 20 consecutive comparative tests using cable samples meeting the same standard requirements, all test data deviations remained within the allowable range specified by the relevant standard.

As a result, the credibility of the testing center's test conclusions was significantly improved.

Reduced Labor Requirements and Increased Testing Capacity

The labor requirement for a single test was reduced from two operators remaining on-site throughout the test to one operator performing specimen installation before the test and report export after the test.

The testing center can now save more than 1.200 labor hours per year, while its maximum daily testing capacity has increased from 3 test batches to 12 test batches.

Shorter Testing Cycles and Lower Testing Costs

Local cable manufacturers no longer need to send their samples overseas for flame-retardancy performance testing.

For export-related flame-retardancy testing, the testing cycle has been reduced from 15 days to 3 days, while testing costs have been reduced by 65%, effectively lowering the export compliance costs of local cable manufacturers.

Filling the Local Testing Capability Gap

The project filled a capability gap in high-precision vertical flame testing of bunched cables in the Vitas Federation.

Flame-retardancy acceptance testing of cables used in newly constructed high-rise projects can now be completed locally, providing important technical support for fire safety compliance management in local construction projects.

Customer Feedback

The technical manager of the Xingang Construction Engineering Quality Testing Center stated that the installation of this equipment not only addressed a critical capability gap in the center's wire and cable flame-retardancy testing services, but also enabled the region's fire safety testing standards to better align with international requirements.During the first three months of operation, the equipment successfully completed testing for 217 commissioned samples. All issued reports passed verification by both the local housing and urban-rural development authority and international certification bodies.

A number of local cable manufacturers have also proactively signed long-term testing cooperation agreements with the center.

The testing center has now submitted a request for additional equipment and plans to purchase additional testing modules covering different flame-test classifications within the same product series. This will further expand its testing capabilities to cover Class A and Class C bunched cable combustion tests, enabling more comprehensive testing across different bunched cable combustion classifications.