16.11.2020, 18:23
A New Milestone in Fire Wall Insulation
Wrightstyle has achieved an industry milestone following the certification of a fire wall systems to the SR60 curtain wall framing system standard.
The test conducted by Warringtonfire involved examining the structural integrity and insulation capabilities of a curtain wall framing system manufactured with SCHOTT PYRANOVA© 120 glass after 148 minutes of exposure to fire, and has significant ramifications for a number of fire safety applications as it was performed with the exterior building surface facing into the furnace – which is a “real life” measure of fire safety in applications as diverse as atriums, fire escapes, and fire breaks between different areas of a building.
This also provides a tested advantage to provide fire protection between higher risk areas such as car parks and workshops and lower risk areas such as offices and a building’s reception.
Wrightstyle has long expertise working across sectors on both large and small projects. A good example of multi-directional compartmentation would be to provide a fire break between a supermarket and its underground car park.
The company’s Chief Design Manager, Chris Peters, says: “This is an excellent result for our SR60 curtain walling system and further underlines the quality and high performance offered by our systems.
“We are seeing more demand from the export market for this higher specification curtain walling, as specifiers design in compartments with a fire risk from either side of the glass.”
In addition to adding further test evidence to an already comprehensive list, the test incorporated steel spandrel panels, making it one of the first alternative infill options to achieve two hours of integrity and insulation performance.
The SR60 system is also fully weather certified being a gasket glazed system, an enormous advance on more commonly-used tape glazed system.
Spandrel panels can have both a functional and aesthetic purpose, and generally have to meet thermal, acoustic, fire performance and moisture requirements.
The target performance for the Wrightstyle test was to achieve EI120 (120 minutes integrity and insulation). The test ran for a period of 148 minutes, exceeding the criteria for a pass by 23 per cent an overrun that is rare in high performance tests.
Full furnace temperature was achieved after some 60 minutes into the test, with a peak temperature of 1050 degrees Centigrade.
The test module size was three metres by three metres and the test was jointly carried out by Wrightstyle and SCHOTT Technical Glass Solutions GmbH, one of the world’s leading speciality glass manufacturers.
Helmut Kugelmann, Sales Director for Fire Resistant and Security Glazing at SCHOTT, comments: “SCHOTT were very happy to work with Wrightstyle on this fire test and look forward to further cooperation, in developing the worldwide demand for fully tested safe solutions that exceed local building code requirements.”
Author
