Optimisation of the Fire reaction & Fire resistance of materials & systems
Whatever the business considered, innovation is a major key to success. Since every single firm does not own a R&D department, they can benefit from CREPIM’s know-how for 20 years, on topics dealing with fire reaction and resistance. CREPIM represents for those companies the opportunity to lead technical developments
CREPIM multitasks development team is working from dawn to dusk to work out your new products. We can support you on each step of the development process. This includes technical specifications elaboration, formulation, cost study, industrialization and patent application.
With an excellent knowledge of fire regulations, materials, fire mechanisms, fire protection strategies and additives market, CREPIM helps you formulating and testing your products in order to meet the requirements allowing accessing the market. Our chemists team will assist you throughout the development process of your new products:
- Thermoplastics and thermosets
- Elastomers
- Textile and fibrous materials
- Wood and derivatives
- Inorganic material: plaster, cement, concret , etc.
Developments carried out in CREPIM are marked by pragmatism, and innovation comes from the latest scientific discoveries. Never forgetting the objective, our team always uses compulsory tests for the market targeted. Our accreditations and rigorous metrological monitoring guarantee effective developments and reliable results. Our equipment enables to focus on the following markets:
- Building
- Railway
- Aircraft
- Automotive industry
- Electrical and electrotechnical
Optimisation of the Fire reaction regarding : Rate of Heat Release, spread of flamme, smoke opacity and smoke toxicity
The fire reaction is characterized by the ability of a material to spread a fire. Usually, fire regulations deal with:
- Flame spread
- Flaming droplets
- Heat released
- Smoke production : opacity and toxicity
CREPIM owns all the relevant tests to characterize the fire performance throughout the development process. Some of them are specifically suitable to get an overview of the smoke and fire characteristics:
Cone calorimeter - Rate of heat release
ISO 5660-1
The name “Cone Calorimeter” was derived from the shape of the truncated conical heater that Dr. Vytenis Babrauskas used to irradiate the test specimen (100mm x 100mm) with fluxes up to 100 kW/m2 in the bench scale oxygen depletion calorimeter he and his co-workers developed at NIST
This tool can also be combined with a thermographic camera so that the temperature can be monitored during testing. This is of great importance when the thermal barrier effect of a product is assessed.
LOI : Limit Oxygen Index - Flaming persistency
ISO 4589-2
This test aims to determine the maximum oxygen content which can be submitted to a material so that the combustion stops within 3 minutes maximum. Also, the flame cannot spread over 50mm vertically on the sample. The useful information given by this test is actually the self-extinction ability of a material under specified conditions of combustion.
UL 94-V : Vertical Spread of flamme
UL 94 is a plastics flammability standard released by Underwriters Laboratories of the USA. Usually the application deals with the electrical and electrotechnical branch. This classification is not intended to give any information about the behavior of a material in case of a real fire, but it’s very simple to perform and it is internationally recognized.
Smoke chamber ( ISO 5659-2 ...) for the optimisation of smoke opacity and smoke toxicity
Smoke test consists in submitting the sample to a controlled heat in an airtight enclosure. An optical device monitors the smoke production during the test. Simultaneously, gases produced are picked up twice and analyzed so that a critical index of toxicity is calculated.
And so many more, standardized as well as customized...
Optimisation of Fire resistance regard E, I & R criteria
As a fire develops, the main risks consist in the spreading from piece to piece and also the collapsing of the building. Fire resistance actually gives information on the time during which the construction components maintain their mechanical and insulating properties. Fire resistance is measured as the time to failure of one or more criteria, the most common of which are:
- Load bearing capacity R: the ability of a construction element to withstand fire exposure under specified mechanical actions, on one or more faces, for a period of time, without any loss of structural stability
- Integrity E: the ability of an element of construction that has a separating function to withstand fire exposure on one side only, without the transmission of fire to the unexposed side as a result of the passage of flames or hot gases
- Insulation I: the ability of an element of construction to withstand fire exposure on one side only, without the transmission of fire as a result of significant transfer of heat from the exposed side to the unexposed side
CREPIM’s fire resistance furnace (1m3) is available for monitoring all these key parameters and thus giving the possibility to optimize formulations so that requirements are met.
Whatever, CREPIM is always available to help and guide throughout your development process in connection with fire reaction and smoke toxicity/opacity. Do not hesitate to contact us for further information.
