Fire Resistant Rainscreen Cladding

在格伦费尔大厦火灾之后，有关高层建筑覆层的行业部门一直在努力寻找既安全又经济可行的替代覆层材料。技术上的挑战是找到一种既防火、轻便、耐用、隔热，又能支撑自身重量（足够坚固/工程上足够坚固）的解决方案。这种特性的结合是不容易实现使用传统材料。目前的行业标准是铝皮和聚乙烯芯的复合板，虽然这满足了成本，耐用性和重量的要求，但它缺乏足够的绝缘能力（因此要求它与绝缘层结合使用）和防火性。鉴于最近发生的事件，后一种性质是最重要的，在这些事件中，聚乙烯芯被观察到熔化并点燃了面板下面的可燃绝缘层。拟议的项目将使用一种材料来制作包层，这种材料在暴露于火焰和高温时不会燃烧、熔化或产生有毒或有毒烟雾。这种材料是非氧化的碳-碳混合材料，一种用于高性能制动系统的材料的变体。拟议的系统将使用由陶瓷泡沫填充的间隙分隔的两层这种材料的平板，该间隙将提供绝缘性能，并且可以通过该间隙传导水以提供额外的冷却。通过降低安装成本和不需要保温层，简单和苗条的结构将提供一个具有成本效益的解决方案。这将抵消制造新面板的较高成本。该项目计划持续六个月，并将产品从小规模测试过渡到行业认可测试的全面演示。一个成功的项目将为英国公司带来巨大的出口和许可机会，预计在5年内将成为150亿美元的市场。

Following the Grenfell Tower fire the industry sector concerning cladding of high-rise buildings has been endeavouring to find alternative cladding materials that are both safe and financially viable. The technological challenge is to find a solution that is fire resistant, lightweight, durable, thermally insulating and will support its own weight (sufficiently robust /engineeringly substantial). This combination of properties is not easily achieved using conventional materials. Currently the industry standard is a composite panel with aluminium skins and a polyethylene core, whilst this fulfills the requirements of cost, durability and weight, it lacks sufficient insulating capabilities (therefore requiring it to be used in combination with an insulating layer) and fire resistance. The latter property is most important given recent events where the polyethylene core has been observed to melt and ignite the flammable insulating layer below the panel.The proposed project will use a material to make cladding which does not burn, melt or produce noxious or poisonous fumes when exposed to flame and high temperatures. This material is non-oxidising hybrid carbon-carbon, a variant of a material that is used in high performance braking systems. The proposed system will use two flat sheets of this material separated by a ceramic foam filled gap that will provide the insulating performance and through which water may be conducted to provide additional cooling. The simple and slimline construction will provide a cost-effective solution through the reduction of installation costs and the non-requirement for an insulating layer. This will offset the higher cost of manufacture of the new panel.The project is planned to last six months and take the product from small scale testing through to a full scale demonstration in an industry recognized test. A successful project will produce significant export and licensing opportunities for UK companies in what is projected to become a $15bn market in 5 years time.