Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Author Spotlight: Enhancing Fiber Composite Laminate Quality with the Wet Hand Lay-Up/Vacuum Bag Process
Published on: June 30, 2023
Design of Experiments-Based Fire Performance Optimization of Epoxy and Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Polymer
Christoph M Pöhler1, Marwa Hamza2, Torsten Kolb1
1Centre for Light and Environmentally-Friendly Structures, Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut WKI, 38108 Braunschweig, Germany.
Abstract:
The fire performance of epoxy and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with and without fire retardants (FR) (i.e., ammonium polyphosphate (APP), aluminum trihydroxide (ATH), melamine (MEL), expandable graphite (EG)) was investigated. A design of experiment (DoE) approach was applied to study the single- and multifactorial effects of FR. The fire performance of epoxy and CFRP was evaluated by limiting the oxygen index (LOI) and heat release, which were obtained by limiting the oxygen index test and cone calorimetry. It was found that mixtures of 70 wt.-% epoxy, 24.6 wt.-% of APP, and 5.4 wt.-% MEL resulted in the highest LOI level of 45 within tested groups for epoxy resin and also for CFRP specimens (LOI level of 39). This mixture also resulted in the lowest average heat release rate (HRR180s) of 104 kW·m-2 and a spec. total heat release (THR600s) of 1.14 MJ·m-2·g-1, indicating the importance of balancing spumific and charring agents in intumescent systems and synergy thereof.
Related Concept Videos
Fiber Reinforced Concrete
Accelerated Curing of Concrete
Design of Prismatic Beams for Bending

