VdS

VdS Guidelines for Water Mist Systems 3883-4en

Fire Test Protocol for

Water Mist Systems
Part 4: Protection of car garages

VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01)

Publisher and publishing house: VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH

Amsterdamer Str. 172-174

50735 Köln, Germany
Phone: +49 221 77 66 0; Fax: +49 221 77 66 341

Copyright by VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH. All rights reserved.

VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01) Part 4: Protection of car garages

VdS Guidelines for Water Mist Systems

Fire Test Protocol for

Water Mist Systems
Part 4: Protection of car garages
This document is binding only if its application has been agreed on a case-by-case basis.
Otherwise, any consideration of this document is non-binding. An agreement for application
of this document is entirely optional. On a case-by-case basis, third parties may also ac-
cept, at their discretion, other requirements that do not comply with this document.

Content
1 General ..................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Scope .................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Normative references............................................................................................ 4
2 Terms and definitions............................................................................................. 4
3 General requirements ............................................................................................. 4
4 Test assembly ......................................................................................................... 5
4.1 General ................................................................................................................. 5
4.2 Vehicles ................................................................................................................ 5
4.3 Ignition Source ...................................................................................................... 6
5 Reference sprinkler requirements ...................................................................... 10
5.1 General ............................................................................................................... 10
5.2 Reference sprinkler tests .................................................................................... 10
6 Water mist system tests requirements ............................................................... 10
7 Test assembly requirements ............................................................................... 11
8 Instrumentation requirements ............................................................................. 11
8.1 General ............................................................................................................... 11
8.2 Instrumentation ................................................................................................... 11
8.3 Test hall temperature .......................................................................................... 12
9 Testing Criteria ...................................................................................................... 12
9.1 General ............................................................................................................... 12
9.2 Fire tests ............................................................................................................. 13
9.3 Evaluation of test results ..................................................................................... 13
10 Test Report ............................................................................................................ 14
11 Films and photographs ........................................................................................ 15

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Part 4: Protection of car garages VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01)

1 General
1.1 Scope
This fire test protocol specifies the evaluation of the fire performance of water mist systems
for non-stacking garages, fully enclosed garages and underground garages. This fire test
protocol is applicable for horizontal, solid, flat ceilings with heights of 2 m and above.

1.2 Normative references

These guidelines contain dated and undated references to other regulations (in alphabeti-
cal order). The normative references are cited in the respective clauses, the titles are listed
below. For dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these reg-
ulations apply to these guidelines only when published by revision or amendment of these
guidelines. For undated references the latest edition of the regulation referred to applies.

The following guidelines contain additional conditions and requirements which shall be ful-
filled n the frame of an approval.

Any preconditions and requirements specified in the respective procedure guidelines shall
be fulfilled prior to testing.

VdS CEA 4001 Guidelines for sprinkler systems – planning and installation

VdS 2344 Procedure for the testing, approval, certification and conformity assess-
ment of products and systems for fire protection and security technologies

VdS 2562 Procedure for the approval of new extinguishing techniques

VdS 3115 Procedure for the approval of new protection concepts

VdS 3188 Guidelines for water mist systems – planning and installation

2 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in VdS 3188 and the
following apply.

Car park garage: Fully enclosed area intended for car park with horizontal, solid, flat ceil-
ings with heights of 2 m and above. Automatic parking systems, stacking or non-fully en-
closed areas are not covered by this definition.

3 General requirements
The water mist system shall successfully complete all described performance fire tests for
their specific applications.

The water flow shall be shut-off 30 min after the activation of the first sprinkler/nozzle. Any
remaining fire shall be manually extinguished and the fire damages shall be recorded.

System components, component locations, operating conditions and test enclosure details
shall remain unaltered throughout all of the fire tests for a given application.

All fire tests should be conducted using the manufacturer instructions in regard to nozzle
placement, spray flux, and spray duration.

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VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01) Part 4: Protection of car garages

The test concept is only applicable to ceiling mounted water mist sprinklers.

The nozzles shall be located in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

The water supply shall be capable of supplying a flow rate and pressure according to the
specific requirements, which are based on the actual layout of the pipework installation.

4 Test assembly
4.1 General
A relatively realistic car parking garages fuel package is employed in the test. As the fuel
package is rather complex, the reference testing with a prescribed sprinkler system serves
also to indicate the baseline performance at each different test facility and set-up. However,
within one test series, all fuel packages shall be identical (make, type).

The test assembly to be provided for the tests shall comply with the following specifications
and figures.

The test scenario is based on a car park garage, in which three vehicles are positioned as
fire loads. Figure 4-1 shows the test assembly in accordance with the requirements speci-
fied in this clause.

The cars to be provided for testing shall have normal humidity as is achieved by indoor
storage at (20± 5) °C. The humidity content of the vehicles shall be random-checked prior
to testing.

The test assembly shall include the following elements:

Figure 4-1: Assembly of fire loads and position of ignition source

4.2 Vehicles
Three vehicles of the same type of construction shall be provided for the test assembly. It
is necessary to use comparable vehicles in all tests. Especially the following parts of the
vehicles used in the tests shall be comparable:

 vehicle dimension and type of construction (notchbacks, hatchback, estate)

 position of exterior plastic parts (exterior mirrors, decorative trimming elements), indi-
cators on the sides underneath the exterior mirrors
 bumpers (material; coated/not coated)
 fixed roof without openings (e. g. sun roof)

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Part 4: Protection of car garages VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01)

 spare wheel in the boot

 upholstery and floor mats on the inside of the passenger compartment

The vehicles provided shall be complete and undamaged. For safety reasons, all vehicles
used in the test shall be prepared as follows prior to testing:

 all operating fluids, such as petrol or brake fluids, shall be discharged

 the cap of the petrol tank shall be removed
 the gas-filled shock absorbers in the boot lid shall be removed
 airbags (where applicable) shall be removed
 all tyres shall be depressurised (remove valve) and the vehicles shall be supported in
order to ensure that the distance between the vehicle and the top of the floor remains
the same during testing

4.3 Ignition Source

Ignition source shall be a fire pan, which shall be positioned under car 2. The fire pan shall
fulfil the following requirements:

 position: centrally (longitudinal axis) under car 2

 material: steel
 dimensions:
– 1 pan: 600 mm x 1800 mm x 100 mm (regular)
– 2 pans: 600 mm x 900 mm x 100 mm (alternative)
 amount of heptane: 14l heptane + 14l water

Figure 4-2 to Figure 4-7 exemplify the test layout in relation to the test scenario and spacing
of the water mist sprinkler.

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VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01) Part 4: Protection of car garages

Figure 4-2: Scenario below one sprinkler, space from 2.0 to 2.5 m

Figure 4-3: Scenario below one sprinkler, space from 3.0 to 3.5 m

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Part 4: Protection of car garages VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01)

Figure 4-4: Scenario below one sprinkler, space from 4.0 to 5.0 m

Figure 4-5: Scenario between four sprinklers, sprinkler space 2.5 m

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VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01) Part 4: Protection of car garages

Figure 4-6: Scenario between four sprinklers, sprinkler space from 3.0 to 3.5 m

Figure 4-7: Scenario between four sprinklers, sprinkler space 4.0 m

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Part 4: Protection of car garages VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01)

5 Reference sprinkler requirements

5.1 General
The sprinkler system used in the reference tests shall be characterised as follows:

a) classification: Ordinary Hazard 2 acc. to VdS CEA 4001;

b) water discharge density 1: 5,75 l/min/m2;
c) protected area per sprinkler: 12 m2;
d) sprinkler arrangement: square grid (3,5 m spacing);
e) sprinkler:
1) type: VdS approved pendent or upright spray sprinkler (depending on the water
mist system to be tested) in accordance with VdS CEA 4001, surface mounted on
the ceiling with a flat escutcheon. Please note that in case of upright water mist
sprinklers upright sprinklers shall be used. In case of pendent water mist sprin-
klers the sprinklers shall be pendent also.
2) installation of the sprinkler according to VdS CEA 4001
3) thermal sensitivity: special response as specified in VdS CEA 4001
4) nominal K factor: 80
5) temperature rating: 68 °C

Figure 4-2 to Figure 4-7 show the layout of the sprinkler and nozzle network and the re-
quired thermocouples.

5.2 Reference sprinkler tests

The sprinkler system shall be pressurised to be capable of the minimum required pressure
immediately after operation of the first sprinkler. Upon activation of the first sprinkler, the
flowing water pressure shall be maintained.

6 Water mist system tests requirements

The tested system shall either be:

a) pressurized to its minimum operating pressure specified by the manufacturer. Upon ac-
tivation of the first nozzle, the flowing water pressure shall be maintained at the minimum
operating pressure for systems using a constant operating pressure. For systems with
non-constant operating pressure the pressure characteristics used in the test shall re-
semble the conditions of a real installation when supplying the required 144 m² and shall
resemble the last 30 min of the operating time of the system;

or

b) pressurized to the minimum stand-by pressure specified by the manufacturer. Upon ac-
tivation of the first nozzle, the flowing water pressure shall be gradually increased to the
minimum operating pressure, specified by the manufacturer. The delay time until the
minimum operating pressure is reached shall correspond to the delay time expected in
an actual installation.

1
This value includes a safety factor of 15 %.

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VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01) Part 4: Protection of car garages

7 Test assembly requirements

The test assembly shall fulfil the following conditions:

1. The test laboratory should be of adequate size with natural or minimal ventilation so as
to not interfere with the fire testing within the enclosure or about the mock-up or test
fuel package.
2. The size of the test laboratory should not impact firefighting capabilities of any test fires
(i. e., depletion of oxygen due to an inadequately sized test laboratory).
3. There shall be a minimum 1 m from ceiling rim to test facility wall, sufficient ventilation
or space, sufficient ventilation to guarantee sufficient O2 concentration over the entire
test period.
4. Oxygen concentration shall not decrease below 20%.
5. If the above mentioned conditions are not met during the tests, the water mist system
shall only be installed in rooms with a maximum size equal to the limits of the facility
they are tested in.
6. For all fire tests, the ceiling, floor, and walls should be as dry as possible, with only
ambient moisture content allowed. The relative humidity in the test enclosure should
not significantly differ from that of the ambient relative humidity.
7. The test enclosures shall be at an ambient temperature of 20°C ± 10°C prior to the
start of the test. The enclosure or hall shall be at as uniform an ambient temperature
as reasonably possible. Localized hot or cold spots are not permitted. All non-fire in-
duced drafts shall be eliminated.
8. The minimum operating nozzle pressure (as specified by the manufacturer) shall be
used for all tests, unless otherwise noted. System operating pressures shall be repeat-
able to within ± 5 %. If the system pressures cannot be controlled within the specified
tolerance, fire tests should be conducted at the minimum and maximum pressure by
using external means to control the system pressure.
9. The maximum nozzle ceiling height and spacing (as specified by the manufacturer)
shall be used for all tests. This includes utilizing the maximum ceiling spacing of the
nozzles from the walls.
10. The fire tests should be conducted in a large open test hall of sufficient area, and with
a minimum ceiling height of 5,0 m, to avoid impacting the results of the tests.
11. Maximum allowed time delay of water pressure build-up of the system shall be speci-
fied by Manufacturer and shall be used for all tests.

8 Instrumentation requirements
8.1 General
The following measurements shall be recorded to within a ± 5 % tolerance level at intervals
not exceeding 1 s using a computerized data acquisition system. Measurements should
begin and end at least 1 min prior to ignition and after extinguishment of the test fire(s).

8.2 Instrumentation
The measured values are registered by means of the following:

 Thermocouples

T1-9 (°C) – according to Figure 4-2 to Figure 4-7

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Part 4: Protection of car garages VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01)

For measuring the temperature, exposed 0,5 mm thermocouples of type K shall be posi-
tioned 75 mm below the ceiling surface. Figure 4-2 to Figure 4-7 show the positions of the
individual thermocouples.

Additional thermocouples may be installed in the test assembly. (e. g. at each nozzle).
However, any additional thermocouples shall also have the a. m. characteristics.

 Pressure transducer
– P1 (bar) pressure at hydraulically most unfavourable nozzle in pipework
 Flow measuring device
– Q1 (l/min) flow measurement (sprinkler tests)
 Time measurement
– t (mm:ss) time measurement over the entire test period, in which the following
times are recorded:
௅ start of data recording
௅ ignition
௅ activation of extinguishing system
௅ extinguishment of flames (if applicable)
௅ end of extinguishing process
௅ end of data recording

All measured variables shall be recorded over the entire test period. The tests shall also
be recorded per video. Any damage of the test assembly shall be photographed and spec-
ified in the test report after each test.

8.3 Test hall temperature

The test hall shall have an initial ambient temperature of 20° C ±10° C for all tests.

9 Testing Criteria
9.1 General
The test programme shall involve tests with ignitions under one water mist sprinkler and
between water mist sprinkler. The nozzle grids shall be installed with respect to the fire
load as shown in Figure 4-2.

The performance of the tested water mist system shall be evaluated against the perfor-
mance of the reference sprinkler system. The evaluation shall reflect the overall perfor-
mance of both systems.

A total damage of the sprinkler test series shall be determined by creating the average of
the damage of the sprinkler tests (see clause 9.3). A total damage of the water mist tests
shall be determined by creating the average of the damage (see clause 9.3) of the water
mist tests.

The average ceiling gas temperature shall be determined as the average over the three
peak temperatures after activation of the system. The averaged ceiling gas temperature of
the sprinkler test series shall be compared with the averaged ceiling gas temperature of
the water mist test series.

Critical judgement shall be exercised when evaluating the damages and ceiling gas tem-
peratures.

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VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01) Part 4: Protection of car garages

In case of a negative result with the water mist system, the test series may be repeated
only with modified parameters of the system to be tested (e. g. higher design density, lower
ceiling height, smaller nozzle spacing).

9.2 Fire tests

Reference tests with a sprinkler system shall be carried out in order to verify the extinguish-
ing effectiveness of the water mist system to be approved.

Two scenarios are tested:

 The ignition source is located below one sprinkler/water mist sprinkler (U1)
 The ignition source is located between four sprinklers/water mist sprinklers (B4)

The tests should be designated as specified in Table 9-1 for traceability reasons.

Test Ignition source System

Spr.U1
below one sprinkler
Spr.U1 (repeat test) Reference sprinkler
Spr.B4 system
between four sprinklers
Spr.B4 (repeat test)
WM.U1
below one water mist sprinkler
WM.U1 (repeat test)
Water mist system
WM.B4
between four water mist sprinklers
WM.B4 (repeat test)

Table 9-1: Designation of the tests

9.3 Evaluation of test results

Due to the complexity of the fuel package, the damages to the target cars shall be evalu-
ated quantitatively based on a points-system. The evaluation shall consider at least the
following items:

a) Determination of fire damage:

extent of the damage on the parts of the two target passenger cars (e. g. bumpers,
indicators, side mirrors). Bumpers, indicators, trims, tires and parts alike shall be eval-
uated in terms of damage caused by temperature effects. The following points-system
shall be applied on all relevant parts of the target cars (depending on the model):

 1 Point: no temperature induced discolouration of the plastic, no thermal defor-

mation, no burnt or melted parts.
 2 Points: surface shows only slight discolouration without any change of the mate-
rial structutre (e. g. carbonization, blistering, deformation).
 3 Points: surface shows (partial) sooting, carbonisation, deformation, or any other
change of the material, or if it catches fire during the test

The points shall be summed up in order to evaluate the total damage on the two target
passenger cars for each test.

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Part 4: Protection of car garages VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01)

Note: Prior to the first test of the test series it shall be agreed which parts of the target cars
will be evaluated in terms of damage.
b) Determination of peak temperatures:
 This evaluation refers to the temperatures reached after operation of the first sprin-
kler/the first water mist sprinkler. The temperature curves measured during the test
are averaged over a period of 30 s (maximum interval between measurements
1 s), and from the averaged curves the peak temperatures shall be determined.
 The average gas temperature at the ceiling is the average of the three peak tem-
peratures.

The tests have been passed, when the following applies:

 The total averaged damage of the water mist test series is less than or equal to the
total averaged damage of the sprinkler test series.
 The windscreens and windows of the two target passenger cars are not damaged.
 The fire did not spread to other cars.
 The total averaged ceiling gas temperature of the water mist test series is less than or
equal to the total averaged ceiling gas temperature of the sprinkler test series. Accord-
ing to Table 9-2 no more than the accepted number of water mist sprinklers is activated
in the inner ring and outer ring.

Number of autom. Total activated num-

Area of
Spacing water mist sprinklers/ ber autom. water Outer Ring
protection
area of protection mist sprinklers
2,50 m 6,25 m2 24 12 3
2
3,0 m 9m 16 8 2
3,50 m 12,25 m2 12 6 2
2
4,0 m 16 m 9 5 1
4,50 m 20,25 m2 8 4 1
2
5,0 m 25 m 6 3 1
5,50 m 30,25 m2 5 3 1

Table 9-2: Accepted number of activated water mist sprinklers

In case of a negative result with the water mist system, the test series may be repeated
only with modified parameters of the system to be tested (e. g. higher design density, lower
ceiling height, smaller nozzle spacing). In this case the entire test series of sprinkler and
water mist tests shall be repeated.

Acceptance criteria: TWM ” TSp and DWM ” DSp

10 Test Report
The results of the tests shall be documented in a test report.

The test report shall be submitted to VdS as electronic document (pdf) and on paper duly
and legally binding signed by the originator. The test report acc. to EN ISO/IEC 17025 shall
include at least the following:

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VdS 3883-4en : 2020-06 (01) Part 4: Protection of car garages

 Title of the document

 name and address of the test laboratory and the location where the tests were carried
out if this is not the address of the test laboratory
 clear identification marking on the test report (e. g. serial number), and an identification
marking on every page to ensure that this page can be recognised to be part of the test
report, and a clear marking at the end of the test report
 name and address of the customer
 description of the used procedure
 description of the test set-up and the main parameters of the system to be tested
 test results with measuring units where applicable
 statement of compliance/non-compliance with requirements and/or specifications
 name(s), position(s), and signature(s) or equivalent designation of the person(s) who
authorise(s) the test report

Moreover, the data acquired by measurement with unique identification of the measuring
points shall be delivered to VdS in an appropriate form (e. g. ASCII or MS Excel) as soon
as the tests are complete.

11 Films and photographs

VdS will take photos and films as part of the procedure. This applies in particular to the test
setup before and after the test (including damages).

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