Full scale testing of fire performance on a house construction system assembled with sandwich steel and polyurethane structural panels

Abstract

This paper contains the test results of a fire behavior test performed in a full scale house prototype built with 60 mm thick steel sandwich panels. Each panel was composed of two 6mm galvalume steel plates and a core of expanded polyurethane (PU) or expanded polystyrene (EPS), depending on the intended use of the panel. This configuration is an innovative construction system used in Brazil. The study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team including civil engineers, thermography experts, gas collection and analysis experts, and fire control experts. The purpose of this test was to increase the knowledge about the behavior of these construction systems on fire situations using the results obtained. Actual scale tests are extremely rare in Brazil due to their costs and complexity, and no national standards for conducing these tests are available, although they are the best alternative to gather information about the dynamics of fire evolution and for building system responses. This study enabled us to analyze the user’s ability to escape the incident, the potential extent of the damage, and the resistance of the fire system.