Inorganic polymeric materials for passive fire protection of underground constructions

Abstract

SUMMARY Protection against fire for reinforced concrete constructions is of great importance worldwide. There is a general perception that concrete structures are incombustible and thus, they have good fire‐resistance properties. In a real fire incident, however, concrete can be subjected to excess temperatures causing severe spalling and serious damage to concrete structures with significant economic cost and high potential risk to human life safety. Although a variety of fire‐protection methods exist, there is always a need for the development of new materials with improved thermophysical properties and low cost. Inorganic polymeric materials are promising from this point of view. They are incombustible, combining excellent physical, chemical, mechanical and thermal properties with low production cost and significant environmental benefits. In this work, the thermophysical properties of ferronickel slag‐based inorganic polymeric materials are studied. The results from the laboratory scale experiments are promising and indicative of the large‐scale behavior of material. The effectiveness of this material has to be proved in large‐scale experiments at higher temperatures simulating several severe fire scenarios as well as under all kinds of mechanical loading before concluding for its applicability as a fire protection system. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Inorganic Polymers from a Plasma Convertor Slag: Effect of Activating Solution on Microstructure and Properties

“…It was found that the S/L ratio was a crucial parameter for the compressive strength, the latter increasing as a linear function of the S/L ratio for the range of the studied values. In another work, Sakkas et al [18] synthesised IP from Fe-Ni slag activated with 7 M NaOH solution. The resultant material shows a low thermal conductivity of 0.135 W/mK and could be characterised as fire-resistant material.…”

Relationship between compressive strength and UPV of GGBFS based geopolymer mortars exposed to elevated temperatures

“…When exposed to fire, concrete goes through a degradation process called spalling, where the surface cracks and breaks into smaller pieces as the concrete deteriorates around temperatures of 300°C and 450°C [12][13][14]. Around these same temperatures, water evaporation from hardened cement paste contributes to further cracking, which compounds the issue with decrease of mechanical strength and increased exposure to thermal conditions for the steel rebars [15].…”

Early Age Microstructural Transformations of an Inorganic Polymer Made of Fayalite Slag

“…In a number of papers, FeNi slags have been thoroughly studied as potential precursors with very promising results. Interestingly, the work on FeNi slags continues in the direction of more engineered final materials . Lead slags have also been investigated.…”