An Investigation into the Effect of Different Standard Instructions on the Fire Resistance Rating of Intumescent Coated Steel Sections

Abstract

Many building members such as walls, columns, floor contains various components and materials that should be designed to meet their legal obligations outlined in the building regulations especially for fire safety requirements. The performance of those materials under fire-exposure conditions is of major importance in securing safe constructions. To evaluate the conformity of these structural elements, it is necessary to determine the fire-resistance rating as specified according to a wide range of European, American and other test standards. A comparative study was conducted between NFPA 251 and EN 13381-8 to investigate the contribution of the difference in standard specification conditions in affecting the measured fire rating time. For this purpose, six steel columns (of IPE 360 designation) were coated with intumescent paint at the same dry film thickness (DFT) to evaluate the fire resistance rating considering the conditions that listed in both NFPA 251 and EN13381-8. The results showed that the furnace time temperature curves for both standards were functionally equivalent since the standard deviations don’t exceed 5%. Variations in the fire ratings (representing 9% up to 20% of the test time) attributed to the increased temperature sensing locations which provide comparable readings with lesser deviations/ scattering.