Experimental Thermal Behavior of Fibrous Structures for High-Performance Heat Resistant Fire Curtains

Diogo Cunha (), Raul Fangueiro, João Bessa, Conceição Paiva, Daniel Ribeiro, Elisabete Silva, Dionísio Silveira, Delfim Soares and Cândida Vilarinho
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Diogo Cunha: MEtRICs Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Raul Fangueiro: 2C2T Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
João Bessa: Fibrenamics Association—Institute for Innovation in Fiber and Composites Materials, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Conceição Paiva: IPC Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Daniel Ribeiro: IPC Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Elisabete Silva: Mehler Engineered Products Portugal, Lda, 4770-330 Landim, Portugal
Dionísio Silveira: Mehler Engineered Products Portugal, Lda, 4770-330 Landim, Portugal
Delfim Soares: CMEMS Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Cândida Vilarinho: MEtRICs Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Fibrous materials are often used in the manufacturing of fire protection devices such as fire curtains. Their optimization and improved performance is still a topic of interest. The present work aims to develop and test a new combination of fibers arranged in various 2D and 3D patterns with coatings. For this purpose, basalt fibers were added into a glass fiber fabric, and wires of a shape memory material (SMM) were inserted into the fabric to create air pockets induced by temperature. In fire curtains, the base structure is a 2D basket pattern, and all combinations were tested with and without a waterborne polyurethane (WPU) coating with inorganic materials. Three different tests were selected to characterize the thermal behavior: fire resistance, ignitability, and smoke production. Fiberglass proved to be the best material to provide thermal resistance in fire curtains, with the outer surface temperature of the fabric below 650 °C at the end of the tests. The SMM wires provided good protection during the initial stages of the test, but a combination of excessive deformation and reduced strength of the fabric resulted in a sudden failure of the structure. Basalt fibers contribute to a reduction of smoke production. It was observed an improvement of up to 10% in the thermal capacity between 1MIX2 (glass fibers fabric with coating, MIX2) and the best commercial curtain evaluated, Commercial3 (glass and steel fibers fabric with coating).

Keywords: coatings; fibrous materials; fire curtains; fire resistance; thermal behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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