Compfirewood: The wood faces up to his big enemy

The development of new materials of construction forming composites with wood, final products, as well as distinct technologies and industrial processes that allow to obtain constructive elements based in wood with high provision in front of the fire and respectful with the environingingment, is the main aim of the investigation that promote the Technological Institute of the Piece of furniture, Wood, Packaging and Affine (Aidima), as I centre coordinator, and the Technological Institute of the Construction (Aidico), through the project Compfirewood. Both entities codirigen the Technical Centre of the Fire.

The project Compfirewood ‘Investigation of the structural and environingingmental behaviour in front of the fire by means of essays and numerical simulation of constructive elements based in wood with functionality in the habitat', subsidised by the Institute for the Average and Small Valencian Industry (Impiva), and the bottoms Feder of the European Union, freamers in the projects of R&D executed in collaboration between technological institutes.

The initiative of investigation uses an expert system to estimate the behaviour in front of the fire of the wooden constructive elements or derived without need of real essays, to the time that looks for obtain new mathematical models that allow to improve the own system by means of real essays. This system will involve an important saving of resources.

The project Is centring in the coatings to obtain a type of board revestido of sheet that improve his properties of reaction and resistance to the fire; in the structural elements to attain some models of behaviour under load of fire that allow predecir the answer of these in front of real fires; and in products of coating that improve the provision of resistance, integrity and isolation of the constructive elements.

The improvement of these wooden constructive elements with high provision in his behaviour in front of the fire contemplates, likewise, the optimisation of the key parameters involucrados so much in his manufacture (raw materials, conditions and parameters of manufacture), and the selection of the additives ignifugantes (optimum concentration, sinergias, compatibilities).

Of the same way attends to the parameters of his process of treatment, already was in autoclave (pressesure, empty, time, repetition of cycles, relation loads/volume, temperature, etc.), like other possible treatments (immersion, pulverización…). These elements have to be respectful with the environingingment, so much from the point of view of the broadcast, by means of the reduction of the smokes generated, as of his toxicity and his back management like residue.

On the other hand, the optimisation of wooden materials beside cement bases in the conditions of fraguado, in this case of the wood with the matrix cementosa, obtaining boards cementosos with suitable provision for his use under construction. They contemplate variables like the type of cement, type and percentage of acelerante of fraguado, percentages of mix cement/subtract wood or others, time of fraguado, between others, and also the own characteristics of the final product: thicknesses, densities, porosidad, etc.

The results obtained of the essays on the new panels have been very satisfactory that do to foresee future developments for coatings of walls and ceilings based in these compound materials. The panels selected apt for the construction have surpassed the essays of reaction regarding inflamabilidad, contribution of heat, propagation of flame, and load of fire, amongst other, and the ones of opacity and toxicity of smokes, on the total production of smokes, speed of production, indexes of toxicity in the broadcasts, amongst other indicators.

On the same line are developing essays on pieces of different sections with and without protection in oven mufla with the end to value the maximum thickness optimo to employ in the designs, and find also the optimum relation between transversal section of the element and employment of coating of protection.

For example, in the employment of wood laminadas has begun to use reinforcements with synthetic fibres that increase the mechanical resistance of the element, allowing like this reduce sections in until 25%, where remains to check if such reduction of section is profitable of face to the resistance to the fire. The results of the essays in mufla have showed that in wooden pieces laminada (the most used in the actuality), in case of exhibition to the fire, only sees engaged between 1,2 and 2 cm of thickness of the piece.

Of the same way is advancing in the improvement of the behaviour of elements of sectorización (such like doors cortafuego), where has detected like key of the good behaviour of these, the put in work, being fundamental that elements like boards or herrajes keep the integrity and are effective. Neither it is necessary to forget the possible improvements that can realise in the body of the door changing the configurations of layers of filling. they are realising Numerical models (simulations with software of finite elements) with distinct configurations of fillings, splitting of the most used materials by the manufacturers, with the end that the results that obtain are applicable in the reality by the manufacturers.