Evaluating Fire Performance of Glass-Polyurethane Composite for Sustainable Cladding via Numerical and Empirical...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Fire Safety Engineering
• Computational Modeling

Background:

• Growing demand for high-rise building cladding drives interest in recycled materials.
• Fire compliance of polymer-based composites, especially those with recycled content, is a significant challenge.
• Traditional fire testing methods are expensive, time-consuming, and environmentally taxing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a numerical approach for evaluating the fire performance of glass-polymer composite materials.
• To assess the combustibility of novel glass-polyurethane composites using simulation.
• To identify critical material properties influencing the fire behavior of these composites.

Main Methods:

• Simulated cone calorimeter tests using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software.
• Employed a validated numerical model to assess material combustibility.
• Utilized Design of Experiments (DoE) to identify influential material parameters.

Main Results:

• Statistical analysis identified heat of combustion, absorption coefficient, and heat of reaction as key factors influencing peak heat release rate (pHRR).
• A validated numerical model was established for predicting fire performance.
• An empirical equation was proposed showing correlation with pHRR for low-polymer recycled glass composites.

Conclusions:

• The numerical model provides a cost-effective and efficient alternative to traditional fire testing.
• Understanding critical material properties is crucial for developing safe and sustainable building claddings.
• This research supports the use of recycled materials in construction by addressing fire safety concerns.