Fire safety of composites in prefabricated buildings: From fibre reinforced polymer to textile reinforced concrete
Introduction
Fibre reinforced composites (FRCs) have been increasingly used in the building industry owing to its high strength to ratio, ease of application and lightweight. Modern buildings nowadays are to meet stricter requirements on high insulation (both thermal and acoustic properties), low energy consumption and cost effectiveness. The construction industry also witnesses the transformation into prefabrication or modular with the advantages of fast construction time, high quality control, minimal waste and interruption owing to construction [1,2]. FRCs have the potential to revolutionise the prefabrication industry and to provide sufficient housing for the booming population. With their high strength to weight ratio, the introduction of FRCs into prefabricated buildings (PBs) is beneficial for both structural and non-structural elements. Fig. 1 shows a typical structure of FRCs.
FRCs including fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) and fibre reinforced inorganic binders (FRIBs), have been introduced into buildings as an alternative to the traditional construction materials (i.e. steel reinforced concrete and timber). FRCs have also been recognised as a one of the alternative solutions to strengthening the existing structural elements and reducing the amount of reinforcement and cementitious materials in concrete [[3], [4], [5], [6]]. FRCs are used to construct structural (i.e. walls, beams, columns, slabs) and non-structural (i.e. facades, curtain walls) elements the buildings [[7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]]. Examples of new buildings constructed with FRPs façades are illustrated in Fig. 2.
Fire and secondary fire (i.e. fire occurring as a consequence of another event such as earthquake or blast) have been known as one of the major hazards with significant damage to the building and losses of lives. FRCs are providing adequate structural strengths (i.e. bending, tensile and shear strength) to carry the designed loads and enabling the structural stability at normal temperature [14]. However, the strength reduction and heat smoke and toxic release of FRC at elevated temperature is make challenges when it applied in the PB construction. Further, the fire design specifications and fire test standard for FRC elements have not been officially incorporated into Australia design codes such as AS 1530.4–2014 [15], AS 1720.4–2006 [16], AS 3600–2009 [17], AS3700-2011 [18] and AS 4100–2016 [19].
Thus, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of on fire safety of FRCs as an alternative material for PB technologies, which will be useful to professionals working in the construction industry such as structural, façade engineers, designers and architects. This paper will also present the on-going research on FRC's deteriorating behaviour at elevated temperature and relevant construction safety codes for PBs in Australian context and in comparison, to international standards, where applicable. Apart from the overview of the fire performance of FRCs for both structural and non-structural elements, this paper presents the research gaps, potential future research and challenges encountered to the application of FRC in the PB construction.
Section snippets
Structural applications of composites
Nowadays, FRCs such as FRP and FRIB have been used as an alternative to the traditional construction materials for both structural and non-structural applications in buildings. The strength of FRCs will provide load-bearing capacity of the structures while non-structural FRC elements give other performance (i.e. the aesthetic effect for façades) under their own weight. The reduced structural performance of FRCs at elevated temperature have been studied with different research methods. In this
Fibre reinforced polymer for façades
The construction industries aiming for a faster construction technology has led interest towards the prefabricated building and elements. Transportation and lifting capacity of cranes are major drawbacks of prefabrication in the construction industries, as it requires light weight elements. The light weight nature of FRP eliminating this transportation and lifting issue in prefabricated systems, as it can produce light-weight non-structural elements such as partitions, infill walls, parapets,
Basic fire design requirements
The performance of FRCs at elevated temperature has been intensively studied and shows the potential for FRCs prefabricated buildings, from structural to non-structural applications. However, the use of FRCs in prefabricated elements and modular buildings has to follow the construction code that applies to all buildings. The unique characteristic of prefabricated buildings will require additional considerations in fire safety design. In this section, a summary of the relevant requirements by
Future research and recommendation
To improve the fire performance of lightweight FRCs structural and non-structural elements, it requires to use heavy and expensive fire protection with resin additives. These additives often create variations in the mechanical properties of composites structural and non-structural elements under fire. Thus, it requires more research on the effect of additives on the mechanical properties of FRC. Another potential major issue for limiting the demand and economic of FRCs structural and
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support of the ARC DECRA [Grant ID: DE190100217], RMIT University and the ARC Training Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing [Grant ID: IC150100023] of the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, the University of Melbourne.
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