Wood Industry & Construction Testing

Mechanical, seismic, fire, acoustic, thermal tests... FCBA has state-of-the-art laboratories to carry out all types of tests on wood and its derivatives, panels, joinery, assemblies, packaging, etc.
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Info COVID-19

Throughout this reconfinement period, our laboratories remain open and our testing activities are maintained.
You can continue to send your test samples to the respective sites.

Anatomy, packaging
Mechanical, seismic
Acoustics
Fire
Joinery
Coating, finishing
Panels, collage
Thermal

Anatomy, wood and packaging

  • Identification of temperate and tropical wood species
  • Characterisation of wood species for the determination of its mechanical class (stress, modulus of elasticity, nodosity, density, moisture content by destructive and non-destructive testing)
  • Approval of wood grading machines
  • Mechanical tests on all types of pallets
  • Tests on all types of packaging used for the transport of goods

Mechanical and seismic

Static and cyclic tests

These tests are carried out on wood-based construction elements within the framework of normative requirements (Eurocode 5, CE marking, technical opinion, etc.)
Mechanical tests are carried out on all types of construction elements (decking and cladding boards, etc.)

 

Tensile, flexural, compressive, shear and torsional stresses from the test specimen to the full-scale element (timber frame walls, LC beams, trusses, floors, porticos, stairs, balustrades, joinery strips, timber/insulation combinations, etc.)

Ageing cycle tests (delamination) and service life tests

Evaluation of mechanical connectors (pins, screws, lag bolts, connectors, brackets, etc.)

Mechanical evaluation of thermal or complex insulation (creep, dynamic stiffness, compressive and tensile strength)

 

Seismic testing of structural elements

 

Modal analysis (resonance frequency, damping, modal deformation)

On-off strength tests

Cyclic and dynamic tests

Video measurement

Characterising products or systems

Finite element modelling

 

 

Acoustics

The tests are carried out in three cells differentiated by colours

Blue cell

Measurement of airborne sound insulation:

– tests on partitions, walls, facades, motorway motorway screens.

-Tests on floor coverings, floors, roofs, etc.

Measurement of sound insulation against impact noise

– tests on floor coverings, floors, etc.

Measurement of the sound of walking on floor coverings

Measurement of the apparent dynamic stiffness of subfloors

Yellow cell

Measurement of sound absorption in a reverberation chamber

– tests on wall, floor and ceiling coverings and motorway screens.

– tests on furniture (screens and office partitions, chairs, etc.).

Red cell

Airborne sound insulation: tests on windows,

doors, door units, roller shutter boxes and panels/

glazing

 

Fire

 

  • Ignitability test, according to NF EN ISO 11925-2 : evaluation of the ignitability of a product exposed to a low thermal stress

  • SBI, according to NF EN 13823 : contribution of a material (excluding floor covering) to the development of a fire in a scenario
    to the development of a fire in a scenario simulating the combustion of an isolated
    of an isolated object on fire in the corner of a room

  • Radiant panel, according to NF EN ISO 9239-1 : fire behaviour and flame propagation
    fire and flame spread behaviour of horizontally mounted floor coverings exposed to an energy flux gradient

  • Determination of the heat of combustion, according to EN 1716 :
    Determination of the gross calorific value by bomb
    calorimetric bomb

  • Epiradiator, in accordance with NF P 92-501 : radiation test applicable to rigid materials or materials rendered as such (glued covering materials) of any thickness and to flexible materials of a thickness greater than 5 mm

  • Durability / ageing, according to NF EN 16755 : durability measurement
    reaction to fire performance for fire retardant wood products

Joinery

Air, Water, Wind, Mechanical (AWWM)

The tests are carried out on windows, patio doors and door units or walls/partitions for

Air permeability, watertightness and wind resistance (tests can also be carried out can also be carried out on the manufacturer’s premises)

Mechanical tests : bracing, buckling, safety

Resistance to stress, repeated opening and closing

For joinery : stability and permeability tests between different climates or or successive climates

Mechanics and physics

On components of finished products (caulking profiles, joinery joinery, sealing parts, joinery strips, sealing tapes)

On finished products (weathering of cladding, stability of doors and door blocks)

Impact resistance

 

Water vapour permeability

Measurement of Sd or μ on panels, membranes or finishes

Coating and finishing

  • Physical-mechanical tests (bending tests, creep tests, etc.)
  • Artificial and natural ageing of cladding systems for exterior use (joinery elements, cladding, decking, polymeric wood profiles (WPC), etc.)
  • Slip tests
  • Tests on floor/parquet coverings (wood and laminate)
  • Physico-chemical tests on finishes (resistance to abrasion, scratching, impact, cleaning agents, etc.)
  • Tensile test on paint finish film

Panels and gluing

Panels

 

Physical-mechanical tests on all types of panels (process, MDF, OSB, plywood, etc.)

Determination of formaldehyde content (ISO 12460-5) or release (ISO 12460-3 and ISO 12460-4)

 

Gluing

 

Qualification of structural and non-structural adhesives

Measurement of wettability

Measurement of glass transition

 

Systems for the continuity of waterproofing barriers

 

Qualification of adhesive tapes and sealants

Qualification of waterproofing membranes

 

Thermal

 

Measurement of thermal conductivity of insulating materials

Expansion measurement on wood-polymer composites (WPC) and panels