Intumescent epoxy resins are used commercially for fireproofing because of their ability to swell. The swelling action is initiated to shelter the materials beneath the resin from any potential heat source. In this study, the thermal degradation of the intumescent epoxy resins was researched, paying close attention to the morphology of the material and the overall swelling mechanism occurring. It was determined that the thermal degradation process inherently alters the ...
This article studies the accuracy of using models to predict the mass loss of four polymers when they are exposed to fire like conditions. The researchers collected material property data; including density, thermal conductivity, reflectance and absorptance, heat capacity, and decomposition kinetics on each of the polymers. The TPS system is used to measure the initial thermal conductivity of the polymers. These measured values are put into predictive models for ...
Three reference passive fire protection materials were tested to determine the effect that fire exposure has on their thermophysical properties. It was determined that the thermophysical properties during fire exposure have a significant impact on the performance of the materials. The knowledge of how the properties of these materials change upon exposure to fire will aid researchers in being able to better calculate the time to failure of the object ...
The reaction to fire properties of three commercial coatings designed for steel structures were investigated. The coatings in this study were covering a glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composite. It was determined that the thermal barrier effectiveness of these coatings was dependent on the degree of expansion and the thermal conductivity of the expanded char. Using these two parameters, the required thickness of a coating that can enable a structure to withstand ...
Preventing steel from losing its strength during fires is crucial for safe evacuation and effective fire fighting. One of the most common protective coatings applied to steel and other construction materials today is intumescent paint. In this study, researchers created a potential new protective coating using a curable silicone base and varying volume amounts of expandable graphite between 5-25%. The key characteristic of these coatings is that they swell to ...
