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Why buildings should use only Aluminum Composite Material with Fire-rated (FR) core?

Fire test standards that should be used for reference and test standards that are insufficient and inadequate

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Incombustility

ALPOLIC^®/fr is a fire-safe material that passes mandatory requirements for exterior and interior use in most countries..ALPOLIC^®/fr with Aluminum Trihydroxide – Al(OH)3 fire-rated core has passed the following tests from various institutes around the world:

NFPA 285
Intermediate Scale Multistory Apparatus: ISMA TEST (UBC 26-9)
Fire Test for Roof Covering: ASTM E-108
Fire Resistance Rating Tests: ASTM E-119 (1-hr Fire Rating and 2-hr Fire Rating)
Fire Test for Interior: UBC 26-3, Interior Room Corner Test
Calorimeter Test ISO5660-1

Additionally, ALPOLIC^®/fr restricts the development of smoke detrimental to evacuation activities and has passed the Combustion Toxicity Test of New York State (UFPBC)

Standard Testing

ALPOLIC^®/fr – Summary of Fire Tests

Category

Country

Test Standard

ALPOLIC^®/frSpecimen

Results & Classification

External Cladding

United Kingdom

BS476	Part6
	Part7

4 mm & 6 mm

Class 0

Class 1

Germany

DIN4102 Part 1

4 mm

Class 0

USA

British Thermal Unit
(NFPA 259-93)

4 mm

Passed

Climbing Drum Peel Test
(ASTM D1781-76)

4 mm

Passed

Tunnel Test
(ASTM E-84)

4 mm & 6 mm.

Class A / Class1

Modified ASTM E-108

4 mm

Passed

UBC 26-9& NFPA 285, ISMA Test
(Intermediate Scale Multi-story Apparatus)

4 mm & 6 mm.

Passed

Canada

CAN/ULC-S 134-92,
Full-scale Exterior Wall Fire Test

4 mm

Passed

China

GB8625, GB8626 & GB8627

4 mm

Class B1

Japan

Heat Release Test for Non-combustible Material
(ISO 5660-1)

4 mm & 6 mm.

Passed

Roof

USA

Fire Test for Roof Covering
(ASTM E 108)

4 mm

Passed Class A

Fire Resistant Rating Wall

USA

1-hr Fire Rating and 2-hr Fire Rating
(ASTM E119)

4 mm

Does not impair fire resistant rating wall

Interior

USA

Interior Room Corner Test
(UBC 26-3)

4 mm

Passed

USA

Combustion Toxicity Test, New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code

4 mm

Passed

Japan

Heat Release Test for Non-combustible Material (ISO 5660-1 & Toxicity Gas Test)

3 - 6 mm

Passed. Certificate No. NE-209

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) performs testing to determine the surface burning characteristics of building materials, products, and assemblies in accordance with standards referenced by ASTM E84, NFPA 255, UL 723, UBC 42-1, CAN 4-S102 and UL 910. To meet the demands of industrial fire testing requirements, the Institute's test program offers the following facilities and capabilities:
       - 4,000-square-foot conditioned building
       - State-of-the-art measurement system and computerized data processing
       - Immediate tabulation and printout of results
       - Nationally-recognized reports issued within days of the test

The SwRI Fire Technology Department is recognized by all national, federal state, and major local building standards organizations. Accredited by the Council of American Building Code officials (CABO), SwRI meets all criteria set by the Building Officials Conference of America (BOCA), International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), and the Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI), With these accreditations, the department provides fire testing and listing, labeling, and follow-up services in accordance with National Evaluation Service Report Nos. NER-TL351 and NER-QA409.

Why do Aluminum Composite Materials (ACM) need to have Fire-rated core?

In the event of a fire, people trapped in the building either need to go up to the highest floor to be rescued by a fire truck ladder or escape to the ground floor. In a high-rise building, evacuation is very difficult since fire truck ladders cannot reach upper floors. A high-rise building that uses Aluminum Composite Materials with Polyethlene (PE) is putting the lives of those living in the building at risk, as PE acts as fuel in a burning fire and aids fire spread. Additionally toxic gas from the Polyethylene will make evacuation harder and result in possible casualties. (Fact: 90% of casualties from a fire are caused from suffocating toxic gas)

June 2006 Astana, Kazakhstan
Fire on Aluminum Composite Material with Polyethylene (PE) core at the Ministry of Transportation Building

May 2006 Doha, Qatar
Fire on Aluminum Composite Material with Polyethylene (PE) core at the Al Nassir Twin Towers

(1) External cladding

The ISMA Test (Intermediate Scale Multi-story Apparatus, UBC 26-9 & NFPA 285) is a mandatory test for external cladding in US building codes. This test is a simulation test to check the fire propagation using 2-story mock-up model installed with the building material specimen.

A big concern in external cladding is the upward extension of flames over the vertical exterior wall. Through the ISMA test in figure below, we can evaluate the fire extension performance over the external cladding in a controlled environment. ALPOLIC^®/fr passes this test and has an approval for external claddings without height restrictions.

(2) Fire test for roof covering

ALPOLIC^®/fr passes Class A of the ASTM E108, a fire test to examine the non-combustibility of roof coverings. It consists of a burning brand test, an intermittent flame test and a spread of flame test.

Intermittent flame test & spread of flame test

Burning brand test

(3) Fire test for Interior

ALPOLIC^®/fr passes the UBC26-3 Room Corner Test, a fire test to verify the hazardous flashover of interior finishing materials.

UBC26-3 Room corner

Heater: Gas burner or 30lb wood crib
Time: 15 min
The interior is finished with the testing material
       (1) Side wall: The area close to the opening can be exempted
       (2) Front wall
       (3) Ceiling: It is optional

(4) Fire approval in Japan

ALPOLIC^®/fr passes Japan’s new cone calorimeter test ISO5660-1, a standard fire test for building material classification. It is also approved as a non-combustible material for external cladding, roof covering and interior with Certificate Nos. NE-001 and NE-209.

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