During a fire, flames spread by coming into contact with flammable materials, but heat can also travel through a vacuum.
Did you know that? This phenomenon is called thermal radiation and explains why it is necessary to have protection systems even in large open spaces, in the presence of areas potentially subject to fires.
One of the most used passive protection systems is therefore that of establishing internal safety distances, to protect various buildings in a single complex, and external safety distances , to prevent the spread of a possible fire to adjacent buildings. Furthermore, the fire prevention legislation also provides for a minimum distance of protection of the building subject to fire risk from the external fence.
There are empirical calculation models for determining safety distances, but current legislation has established precise values, obtained from measurements carried out during real or simulated fires fire extinguisher service nyc
This protection system can only be implemented when large spaces are available, as in the case of industrial buildings. Often, however, even those who have enough space are reluctant to use this protection system: greater distances between buildings are equivalent to an increase in both processing times and the time needed to transport materials from one area to another . In essence, a significant increase in costs. If this is your concern, we can work with you to study a different solution, such as inserting insulating structural elements.
STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WITH FIRE RESISTANCE CHARACTERISTICS
In the structural design phase , it is possible to foresee the insertion of fire resistant elements. These are elements that have a load-bearing or separating function, such as doors or walls, designed to prevent the spread of a fire and are therefore defined as “fire barriers”.
What does fire resistance mean specifically? It means that, in the event of a fire, these structural elements must retain some specific characteristics:
Mechanical resistance : the element exposed to fire must not deform, but must maintain its characteristics of stiffness and stability unaltered;
Airtightness : when exposed to fire on one side only, the element must retain flames, vapors or hot gases without letting them pass to the other side;
Thermal insulation : In the event of a fire, the element must avoid transmitting heat or reduce the amount of heat transmitted to other elements.