Electric Cable Construction Parameter and Its Potential to Foresee the Cable Fire Properties

A cable parameter related to the volume of effective non-combustible content, Ω, is proposed, which depends on the ratio of non-metallic, non-combustible component volume to non-metallic, combustible component volume, and the effective area of heat transfer within the cable during the combustion process. The correctness of the proposed cable parameter for circular cables is confirmed by tests and the determination of Spearman’s correlation. High Spearman’s correlation factors (close to −1) were obtained for total heat release and total smoke production as a function of the Ω cable parameter. The Ω cable parameter might be used in selecting cable samples for large geometric-scale fire testing within the same cable family.