#4: Fire response of geopolymer structural composites

1rst International Conference on Composites in Infrastructure
Tuscon, Arizona, Jan. 1996
Fire response of geopolymer structural composites
by
Richard E. Lyon, Usman Sorathia, P.N. Balaguru , Andrew Foden,
Joseph Davidovits and Michel Davidovics
published in the Proceedings of ICCI’96, pp. 972-981; see also the paper on pages166-177

The fire response of a potassium aluminosilicate matrix (GEOPOLYMER) carbon fiber composite was measured and the results compared to organic matrix composites being used for infrastructure and transportation applications. At irradiance levels of 50 kW/m2 typical of the heat flux in a well developed fire, glass- or carbon-reinforced polyester, vinylester, epoxy, bismaleimide, cyanate ester, polyimide, phenolic, and engineering thermoplastic laminates ignited readily and released appreciable heat and smoke, while carbon-fiber reinforced GEOPOLYMER composites did not ignite, burn, or release any smoke even after extended heat flux exposure. The GEOPOLYMER matrix carbon fiber composite retains sixty-three percent of its original 245 MPa flexural strength after a simulated large fire exposure.

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