Abstract
Magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements were taken to determine fire exposure patterns on noncombustible structural members and compartment boundaries. These measurements led on-site fire investigators to the cause of combustion and the point of fire origin. Thermal damage to walls and to ceilings was estimated quantitatively by measuring MS and two-valent Fe ion concentration in building materials such as concrete and plaster. It was shown that these effects are preconditioned by thermochemical transformations in the mineral biotite, which is present as a component of common building materials.
For the first time, the effect of a substantial and irreversible increase in biotite magnetization exposed to powerful flows of N- and P-rays was found. It is hoped that the presence of this “magnetic trace” of radiation in building materials will allow investigators to use the magnetometric method at nuclear power plant catastrophes such as that in Chernobyl. It was also shown that the influence of N- and P-rays on biotite's magnetic properties greatly differs from the thermal influence on biotite.
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Bruschlinsky, N.N., Danilov, A.V., Muminov, K.M. et al. Magnetometric Method of Investigating Fire Sites. Fire Technology 33, 195–213 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015363605037
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015363605037