Methods of Fire Protection

Fire rated boards can be framed around steel or timber structures in order to fire protect structural members. The composition of boards will differ between manufactures however their general composition is made up of processed gypsum. These are just one of the common methods of fire protection.

Advantages

• Relatively low material cost
• Provides a smooth even surface for finishing
• Provides acoustic performance

Disadvantages

• Requires fitting of tracks and clips to steel elements to fix boards to
• A more labour intensive system to install, thus longer time frame on work site floors
• Boards have thicknesses ranging from 13mm to 30mm so can add significant weight
• Multiple layers of board may be required depending on the fire rating level required thus encroaches on available space
• Not suitable for complex configurations
• Requires patching and finishing of screw holes and setting of corners/edges
• Not suitable for external use or in damp or high humidity internal environments

 

Vermiculite is a low cost wet cementitious fire rating material which is spray applied. It has been used in structural steel fire protection for decades. The system can only be used for internal environments as it is susceptible to damage by water ingress.

Advantages

• Low cost
• Economical – high yield – low density
• Monolithic coating
• Can be applied directly to steel

Disadvantages

• Can only be used for internal protected environments as it will be damaged by water ingress
• Is a ‘wet’ trade and other trades can not work in areas during vermiculite application or have contact with the applied coating until fully cured, which can take some days depending on prevailing weather conditions
• Requires a relatively large application equipment footprint
• Creates a considerable amount of overspray to all surrounding surfaces and may require specific masking and protection
• Is a quite porous material even when cured and if steel is not primed prior to vermiculite application, corrosion can occur
• Can damage relatively easy
• If not pinned and meshed when installed, differential movement of sprayed steel can cause cracking and dislodgement of the vermiculite

 

Intumescent is the newest fire protection methodology to come onto the market. Unlike boards and vermiculite, intumescent is a reactive material which expands to insulate structural steel in a fire event. Every intumescent has different material properties and therefore have different required thicknesses and expansion behaviour.

*In 2013, the first ‘hybrid’ intumescent coating, Nullifire SC900 series, SC901 and SC902 was released. This technology combined the advantages of ‘thin film’ intumescent in respect to coating thickness and also introduced unique product performance characteristics that stood it apart from all other conventional intumescent coatings. Intumescent coating is one of the proven methods of fire protection.