Thermal response of a ferrocement cavity wall under direct fire

Abstract

One of the main challenges for building designs is to provide comfort to its occupants at a low cost. The present investigation aims to study the performance of a ferrocement cavity wall under heating by means of applying direct fire to two ferrocement leaves with a space in between to be filled with insulation material. The main parameters considered in the present investigation are the fire temperature at its core and the space between the two ferrocement leaves. All leaves were subjected to direct fire for 2 hours. The performance of the ferrocement cavity wall was observed by reading an infrared thermometer instrument and examining the crack patterns on the wall panel. It is concluded that increasing the cavity wall space affected the degree of insulation, while the degree of insulation is not affected by the type of insulation material. It is also concluded that hair cracks appeared on the surface of the ferrocement leave facing the fire when the temperature reached 1300°C with the core of the fire at a distance of 150 mm.

Keywords:

• Ferrocement
• fire
• insulation
• temperature