FutureWrap Fire passes fire tests at Warrington Fire Test Centre

Following the launch of FutureWrap Fire last year, ECS has released its fire-testing results of the composite repair system, which can have a fire performance rating of either A60 or H60.

FutureWrap consists of a glass cloth encased within an epoxy resin. The epoxy resin has a specially developed intumescent additive which provides the fire performance. Along with the composite repair, a fire protective coating has also been developed which again is an epoxy coating with intumescent additives.

Two types of fire tests on steel components with FutureWrap Fire over-wrapped were performed at Warrington Fire Test Centre in a 6-month period starting end of 2021.

The first test was on a steel I-beam where the beam was completely encased in FutureWrap Fire, 9.6 mm thick. Figure 1 presents the before and after photographs of the I-beam exposed to a 2 hour hydrocarbon fire test time temperature curve. From the photo on the right-hand side of Figure 1, the intumescence effect (expansion of the resin) and charring can be clearly seen.

Figure 2 presents time against temperature plots of the furnace and average steel I-beam temperature. Also plotted in Figure 2 is the predicted temperature rise of the steel I-beam using ECS's own software for modelling the temperature within the steel I-beam as a function of repair geometry, the thermal boundary conditions and the fire heat flux. The left-hand plot in Figure 2 shows the lag in temperature rise between the furnace and the I-beam. For example, after 4000 seconds exposure the temperature lag is still 7000C. The right-hand plot shows the comparison between measured and predicted I-beam temperature as a function of time.

The second test was on a steel plate where one side of the plate was wrapped with FutureWrap Fire, 25 mm thick. Figure 3 presents the before and after photographs of the steel plate exposed to a 2-hour hydrocarbon fire test temperature time curve. From the photo on the right hand side of Figure 3, the intumescence effect (expansion of the resin) and charring can be clearly seen. The flames in the photo are not from the repair but from the attachments holding the plate to the furnace wall.

Figure 4 presents the time, temperature plots of the furnace and average back face steel plate temperature. Also plotted in Figure 4 is the predicted temperature rise of the back face steel plate. The left-hand plot in Figure 4 shows the lag in temperature rise between the furnace and the back face plate.  For example, after 4000 seconds exposure the temperature lag is still 9000C approximately. The right-hand plot shows the comparison between measured and predicted back face plate temperature as a function of time.

Conclusions

The conclusions from these tests are that an A60 rating (based on the steel temperature not exceeding 4500C) for a steel I-beam is achievable with a 10 mm thick FutureWrap Fire composite repair and for the flat plate an H60 rating is achievable with a 25 mm thick FutureWrap Fire composite repair.

The other important conclusion is that the Fire performance theoretical model developed by ECS, has been shown to accurately predict the rise in temperature between the repair and the steel components as a function of fire exposure time. Therefore, FutureWrap Fire composite repairs can be designed for most steel component geometries and fire performance requirements including a 1-hour exposure to a hydrocarbon fire.

For more information on FutureWrap Fire contact ECS directly or visit www.engineeredcompositesolutions.co.uk.

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