Evaluation of fire-retardant effectiveness of coatings for steel structures
Authors: Голованов Владимир Ильич , Пехотиков Андрей Владимирович , Павлов Владимир Валерьевич 
Published: December 2020

Представлены результаты анализа экспериментальной и аналитической оценки огнезащитной эффективности покрытий для стальных конструкций. Обобщены данные многолетних исследований по определению зависимостей от температуры таких теплофизических характеристик, как теплопроводность и теплоемкость. Разработана структурно-методологическая схема выбора огнезащитных покрытий для стальных конструкций в целях обеспечения нормативных требований по огнестойкости. Проведены экспериментальные исследования по определению огнезащитной эффективности терморасширяющихся покрытий на эпоксидной основе при воздействии температурного режима горения углеводородов. Рассмотрен вопрос о гармонизации методики экспериментальной оценки огнезащитной эффективности средств огнезащиты для стальных конструкций с действующими европейскими нормами. Установлены критерии выбора пассивной огнезащиты, зависящие от области применения способов огнезащиты.

Steel structures have high strength, relative lightness and durability, but when exposed to high temperatures in a fire, they deform, lose stability and load-bearing capacity. The collapse of load-bearing steel structures can occur in 10-15 minutes after the fire start. The actual fire resistance limit of structures can be increased by using the active and passive fire protection systems. The use of the active system for increasing the actual fire resistance limit is not provided in the regulatory documents. Passive fire protection is a complex of technical solutions including the use of non-flammable materials and bulging compounds. It is also an integral part of the building structure that ensures the required fire resistance limit. Assessment of fire resistance of building structures of residential, public, warehouse and industrial buildings is carried out taking into account the temperature regime (cellulose) of a standard fire. At oil and gas, petrochemical enterprises as well as at oil production platforms fires can occur at combustion of various hydrocarbon fuels which are characterized by a rapid temperature increase to 1100 °C. In this case, in accordance with GOST R EN 1363-2-2014, the temperature regime of hydrocarbon combustion is used to assess the fire resistance of building structures. The fire-retardant effectiveness of fire protection means for steel structures is determined by the heating time of the standard I-shaped column without applying a static load on the sample to the average “critical” temperature of the steel of 500 °C. Materials used for fire protection of steel structures must have a good thermal insulation ability, which is estimated by the coefficient of thermal conductivity. When heated to high temperatures, the thermal conductivity coefficient of fire-resistant materials varies depending on their composition and temperature. Based on the analysis of research to determine the fire-retardant effectiveness of fire protection means for steel structures there was developed a structural and methodological scheme that allows to make a choice of fire protection. Currently, as a fire protection there are widely used intumescent paints and thermo-expandable coatings. Taking into account the lack of knowledge of the influence of long-term operation and a large number of other technological factors on the fire-retardant effectiveness of coatings of steel structures covered with intumescent paints, it would be right to limit the use of such type of fire protection for load-bearing structures contributing to the overall sustainability of buildings with a required fire resistance of R 30. For fire protection of steel structures of oil and gas facilities located in the open air, in severe climatic conditions and exposed to aggressive environments there is successfully used a thermo-expandable two-component epoxy-based coating. The analysis of experimental data showed that the use of epoxy-based coatings is suitable for metal structures in the open air. In closed rooms the epoxy intumescent coating should not be used because at high temperature in a fire it ignites with toxic combustion products release.