Charring and in-depth thermal penetration within cross-laminated timber elements in large-scale compartment firesPope, Ian (Korespondenčni avtor) Lucherini, Andrea (Korespondenčni avtor) Torero, Jose L. (Avtor) Solarte, Angela (Avtor) Casimiro-Soriguer, Diana (Avtor) Gupta, Vinny (Avtor) Wiesner, Felix (Avtor) Lange, David (Avtor) Hidalgo, Juan P. (Avtor) compartment firesheat transferthermal penetrationlarge-scalemass timbercross-laminated timbercharringchar fall-offperformance-based designThe fire performance of engineered timber structures is fundamentally controlled by the coupling between the in-depth temperature evolution of the timber elements and the internal compartment fire dynamics. Charring and heating of the timber during and after a fire are known to significantly degrade the mechanical capacity of timber elements, while also influencing the intensity and duration of burning by generating additional fuel and potentially inducing bond line failures. A series of large-scale fire experiments in cross-laminated timber (CLT) compartments with varying configurations of exposed timber surfaces and movable fuel loads has been performed to investigate these interrelationships, by measuring the charring, thermal penetration, and exposure conditions of the CLT elements. The extent of charring and in-depth heating was found to be primarily determined by the duration of heating—associated to the movable fuel load characteristics and occurrence of self-extinction or char fall-off. Significant in-depth temperature rise beyond the char front continued beyond the decay of the fire and cessation of charring. These findings highlight the importance of designing timber compartments to limit the duration of burning, and to account for the structural implications of thermal penetration during the cooling phase.Elsevier20262026-05-18 08:56:43Neznano29407UDK: 62ISSN pri članku: 1873-7226DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2026.104817COBISS_ID: 277985027sl