200470 Construction Technology 4: Fire Protection Methods Report

This report examines five fire protection methods for structural steel members commonly used in the Australian construction industry. It differentiates between active and passive fire protection, describing active methods like sprinkler systems and foam mechanisms, detailing their effectiveness, construction, and associated costs. Passive methods discussed include intumescent coatings, rigid board fireproofing, and flexible blanket systems, providing insights into their application, benefits, and limitations. The report emphasizes the importance of fire safety in large structures and provides a comprehensive overview of each method's application, effectiveness, and cost considerations within the Australian context. The report references several academic papers to support the findings.

FIRE PROTECTION METHODS IN STEEL STRUCTURES IN AUSTRALIA
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................2
Passive and active protection against fire...............................................................................................2
Passive fire protection.........................................................................................................................2
The use of Intumescent Coatings............................................................................................................3
Construction........................................................................................................................................3
Effectiveness........................................................................................................................................4
Costs....................................................................................................................................................4
Rigid Board Fireproofing..........................................................................................................................4
Effectiveness........................................................................................................................................4
Costs....................................................................................................................................................4
Construction........................................................................................................................................5
Flexible Blanket Systems.........................................................................................................................5
Construction........................................................................................................................................5
Costs....................................................................................................................................................6
Effectiveness........................................................................................................................................6
Active fire protection...............................................................................................................................6
Sprinkler System......................................................................................................................................6
Effectiveness........................................................................................................................................6
Construction........................................................................................................................................7
Costs....................................................................................................................................................7
Foam Mechanisms...................................................................................................................................7
Effectiveness........................................................................................................................................7
Mode application/ construction..........................................................................................................8
Costs....................................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
When it comes to the design and building of large structures, one of the major concerns which
would trigger the minds of the architects is safety of the people who are found inside. This will
go alongside calculations of the loading system which the building is yet to be subjected to. Also,
it is very true that fire poses very dangerous threat to the structures or buildings when it starts
from within or outside the building (Bradford and Liu 2016). Part of the security concerns to the
owners of the structural steel member units is the mechanism of stopping the spread of fire
should it occur. This particular paper seeks to highlight at least five methods both active and
passive which are used in the construction and enhancement of fire safety of structural steel
members units in Australia.
Passive and active protection against fire
Anything that requires any kind of follow up so as to help in stopping or combating fire is
referring to as the active fire protection (Kabir et al.2016). In most case a smoke detector will
ring when the smoke is detected, thus creating an alarm for the fire extinguisher that there is a
need of stopping the fire. Therefore, active fire protection is very reactive and also needs input
from the user so as to get protection against fire. While the passive fire protection does not need
any input from the user. In most cases, the fire doors can provide a very effective barrier of
stopping the spreading fire, though do not need the user input, therefore help in protecting the
fire whether the user is present or not.
Passive fire protection
Passive fire protection is considered as the main factor when building a home, office or even a
block of flat. This must be considered to be the most important thing since it helps in preventing
fire once it has started therefore, limiting the damage and even may save lives during the process.
In most cases it also slows down the fire for a long duration thus allowing individual it get out

when not harmed (Kang et al.2018). To do this, fire resistance wall, doors and floors are being
used throughout the building. Using a fire and smoke damper may also help in stopping the
spreading fire though the ducts within the building. In the case of the steel structures in Australia,
the following passive methods are used:
The use of Intumescent Coatings
This is commonly known as the Intumescent paint. The method is known for the provision of the
resistance to fire to the members of the structural steels (Uy et al.2017). One of the main benefits
or advantages of using Intumescent Coatings is that it is capable of undergoing up to 100 times
the thickness which was originally known for the material used.
Construction
This implies that there will creation of a buffer of fire resistance which is superior between the
steel members and the fire itself. This particular coating therefore undergoes reaction chemically
as well as expansion when the temperature upon which the structure is subjected becomes very
extreme. This will be limited to the temperatures which are never hot enough to cause
destructions.
Figure 1: Thin film of Intumescent Coatings (Uy et al.2017)

Effectiveness
The Intumescent Coatings have been considered as great solution in the Australia’s building and
construction industry particularly for the steel structures which requires that aesthetic values
must be upheld. The application of this substance on the structure is done just like a paint
material. Every layer which is added is equivalent to the added layer of thickness of the entire
product.
Costs
The component is sold just like the paint materials and hence it is relatively cheap. There has
never been fixed pricing of the same.
Rigid Board Fireproofing
The fireproofing which is achieved by the use of rigid boards can easily be installed. One of its
advantages is that its installation can be done in the process of having steel decks being put in
place alongside their beams. This particular system is known for the provision of the right
requirements as far as the fireproofing is concerned with the control of sound disturbance and
thermal variations.
Effectiveness
In order to meet the requirements of UL, its availability is in terms of various thicknesses and has
the potential to withstand humidity as well as moisture without necessarily losing its
characteristics of fire proofing.
Costs
The cost of installation of this particular method of the fire will be dependent on the size of the
structure. It is however pocket friendly compared to the costs of possible damages which might
result from the damages of fire. 1sq metre can cost approximately $ 30.

Construction
This particular method of fire proofing used in the steel structures in Australia is done
mechanically through fastening. It has even the potential to resist attacks from the termites and
pests.
Figure 2: Rigid Board Fireproofing (Kang et al.2018)
Flexible Blanket Systems
Construction
Flexible blankets which are specially designed have been used as effective materials in the case
of fireproofing in the case of the steel structures in Australia. Due to its property of flexibility, it
can be installed easily hence leading to the maintenance of an environment which is free from
toxins which are generated in event of fire (Trahair and Bradford 2017).
Figure 3: Flexible blanket (Trahair and Bradford 2017)

Costs
Despite the fact they are very practical as well as being convenient, the manufacturers in
Australia are very limited. This implies that re basically imported hence very expensive.
Effectiveness
This kind of the application is capable of meeting most of the safety requirements as per the
international standard codes. The cost of the installation is therefore becomes effective and the
system becomes reliable in the prevention of spreading of fire (Ghafoori et al.2018). The systems
of blanket can be regarded as perfect options when very complex shapes are being dealt with.
Active fire protection
Everyone must think about the fire protection and even ensure that they are aware of it. It really
put into consideration that being safe is better than saying sorry as far as matters concerning fire
are considered. Therefore, fire safety of a building may be based into two categories, that is
active fire protection and passive fire protection (Lim et al.2016). Since the two are always go
together during fire outbreak, so it very important for one to know the worthiness of this two,
their differences as well as how one can get then right in their buildings together with homes.
Sprinkler System
Effectiveness
The system of pre-action fire sprinkler uses the dry pipe system concept in which there is no
water contained within pipes. Their variation is that water is being held from the pipe using
electrically operated valve, which is referred as the pre-action valve (Hancock and Pham 2016).
Operations of the valve are being controlled using the independent heat flame, and even smoke
detector.

Construction
There are two difference event must occur so as to initiate discharge of sprinkler. The first thing
is that the system of detection should identify fire developing and ensure that the pre-action
valve is open. Therefore, allowing water to flow into the piping system, as well as creating a very
wet pipe sprinkler system. While the ether event releasing individual pipe heads so as to allow
the flow of water into the fire (Nguyen, Hancock, and Pham 2017).
Figure 4: Sprinkler methods (Nguyen, Hancock, and Pham 2017)
Costs
The costs of installation will always vary. In most cases, pre-action fire sprinkler system can be
set up using a double interlock that pressurized either air or nitrogen which is being added to the
system of piping. The main purpose for this include the two feature fold that is monitoring piping
for any leak and holding water during inadvertent detector operation event. This system is
mostly used within the freezer warehouses (Ma, Chan and Young 2016).
Foam Mechanisms
Effectiveness
Low together with high system of carbon IV oxide foam being used in fire protection is an air
filled bubbles formed from a solution in an aqueous solution as well as its lower density as
compared to the lightest flammable liquids.

Mode application/ construction
Its main used is to make a coherent floating blanket over combustible and flammable liquids as
well preventing and extinguishing fires through excluding air together with cooling the liquid.
This ensures the re-ignition is prevented by suppressing flammable vapour formation, as well as
allowing adheres to the surface, therefore proving exposure protection degree from the fires
adjacent (Li and Young 2017). In some case foam is also used in prevention of fire, controlling
fire as well as one of the agents of fire extinguishing in flammable liquids inside tanks or even
around processing regions.
Figure 5: Foam fire extinguishing mechanism (Ma, Chan and Young 2016)
Costs
The cost of this particular method of fire prevention will be dependent on size of fire during such
accidents. This implies that there are no fixed costs (Dundu 2018).
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, fire stopping just as the name suggests refers to a system of fire protection which
is made up of various components. They are used in sealing the available openings hence prevent
the spreading of fire in the structure during the occurrence of the same accidents. The structural
steel member units have adopted this particular mechanism through creation of fire –resistant
compartments. Such kind of the compartments is capable of containing fire so that it cannot

spread to the other structures which are found in the same setting. The proposed systems are
therefore required to have certain unique properties including having gaps and openings which
can effectively stop fire both vertically and horizontally.

REFERENCES
Bradford, M.A. and Liu, X., 2016. Flexural-torsional buckling of high-strength steel
beams. Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 124, pp.122-131.
Dundu, M., 2018. Evolution of stress–strain models of stainless steel in structural engineering
applications. Construction and Building Materials, 165, pp.413-423.
Ghafoori, E., Hosseini, A., Al-Mahaidi, R., Zhao, X.L., Motavalli, M. and Koay, Y.C.,
2018. Prestressed FRP-strengthening and wireless monitoring of a metallic bridge in
Australia (No. CONF). Taylor & Francis.
Hancock, G.J. and Pham, C.H., 2016. New section shapes using high-strength steels in cold-
formed steel structures in Australia. In Recent Trends in Cold-Formed Steel Construction (pp.
221-239). Woodhead Publishing.
Kabir, M.H., Fawzia, S., Chan, T.H.T. and Gamage, J.C.P.H., 2016. Comparative durability
study of CFRP strengthened tubular steel members under cold weather. Materials and
Structures, 49(5), pp.1761-1774.
Kang, W.H., Vance, S., Morgan, R., Uy, B. and Gatto, F., 2018. Reliability-based verification of
load factors for steel bulk material handling structures with respect to AS4324. 1. In Australian
Structural Engineering Conference: ASEC 2018 (p. 647). Engineers Australia.
Li, H.T. and Young, B., 2017. Cold-formed ferritic stainless steel tubular structural members
subjected to concentrated bearing loads. Engineering Structures, 145, pp.392-405.

Lim, J.B., Hancock, G.J., Clifton, G.C., Pham, C.H. and Das, R., 2016. DSM for ultimate
strength of bolted moment-connections between cold-formed steel channel members. Journal of
Constructional Steel Research, 117, pp.196-203.
Ma, J.L., Chan, T.M. and Young, B., 2016. Experimental investigation of cold-formed high
strength steel tubular beams. Engineering Structures, 126, pp.200-209.
Nguyen, V.V., Hancock, G.J. and Pham, C.H., 2017. New developments in the direct strength
method (DSM) for the design of cold‐formed steel sections under localised loading. Steel
Construction, 10(3), pp.227-233.
Trahair, N. and Bradford, M.A., 2017. Behaviour and Design of Steel Structures to AS4100:
Australian. CRC Press.
Uy, B., Patel, V., Li, D. and Aslani, F., 2017, February. Behaviour and design of connections for
demountable steel and composite structures. In Structures (Vol. 9, pp. 1-12). Elsevier.