The protection of human life and goods assumes a growing concern in all forms of activities. The fire and smoke curtains have as main role to act as a physical barrier to prevent the fire from spreading between spaces as well as to staunch the smoke and heat transfer to adjacent areas. They can also be easily operated (opening and closing) causing a minimal interference with the flow of materials and humans within confines spaces, such as warehouses and industries, while providing adequate protection. Thus, there are a set of characteristics that these products must exhibit high fire protection, thermal resistance and gas impermeability.

The classification of the reaction to fire, described in the European Standard BS EN 1634-1: Fire resistance and smoke control tests for door, shutter and, openable window assemblies and elements of building hardware - fire resistance tests for doors, shutters and openable windows, is the procedure that allows determining the response of a product in contributing by its decomposition to a fire to which it is exposed, being according to three criteria: (i) integrity, (ii) insulation and (iii) radiation.

Usually curtains are based on fiber structures which can be coated to enhance their protective capabilities. In addition, the fiber structure can be developed into a complex pattern of 2D and 3D threads, with single or multiple materials, than can be tailored to optimize its behavior.

The performance assessment of the curtains regarding the aforementioned parameters is performed resorting to several experimental procedures that are detailed in the specific standards.

The present paper reports the development of novel structures of fibers and coatings used for heat protection curtains. They are based on the various combinations of hybrid structures combining 2 or 3 different threads. The tests are carried out in a purpose built hoven that induces a steep temperature rate (approximately 600 ºC in 5 min) on one side of the sample followed by a slower rate up to 950 ºC in 60 min. The sample is placed under stress during the test in order to mimic that caused by its own weight. Thermocouples monitor the temperature on both sides of the sample and its integrity is assessed by both the occurrence of fabric rupture and smoke release due to ignition. Both the fabric integrity and the temperature on the back side of the sample are an indicator of its performance which follows the European Standard  BS EN 13501-2: Fire classification of construction products and building elements. Classification using data from fire resistance tests, excluding ventilation services.

From the results one can conclude that hybrid structures including either basalt and fiberglass fibers are the most suitable.


Development of Fiber Structures for High Performance Heat Resistant Curtains

Division / Sponsors: 
Aerospace, Bioengineering, Applied Mechanics, Design Engineering Division, Advanced Energy Systems, Manufacturing Engineering Division, Noise Control and Acoustics, Nondestructive Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Prognosis (NDPD), Nuclear Engineering Division, Process Industries Division, Fluids Engineering, Heat Transfer, Materials, Microelectromechanical Systems, Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis, Computers & Information in Engineering


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2020/volume/84478

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