The fire behaviour changes crucially depending on the bonded material and the carrier of the adhesive tape.
Source: BAM
Products, components, and constructions progressively consists of bonded systems in transportation and construction engineering. When it comes to a reliable assessment of the fire risks, the amount of glue used or the number of bonds rules out neglecting the contribution to the outbreak of a fire, flame spread, or fire resistance. Nevertheless, the technical specifications of flame-retardant glues and adhesive tapes are often formulated without adequate understanding of the bonds‘ contribution to the fire behaviour of the components.
Co-operating with the IFAM in Bremen, we have tackled this task for pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes with a systematic scientific study delivering meaningful understanding in the completed IGF-Project Nr. 20762 N (Forschungsvereinigung DECHEMA). The complex requirements of the demanded fire protection were depicted with respect to selection and development objectives of flame-retardant glues. The transfer of fire behaviour of the adhesive tape towards the fire behaviour of the bonded material, product, or component in a distinct fire scenario is an intrinsic challenge. Flammability during ignition, flame spread during a developing fire, and fire resistance in a fully developed fire underline different impacts of bonds and thus very different demands on the flame-retardant modification of the adhesive tapes. Thermal analysis of the glues together with the fire testing of self-supporting tapes, adhesive tapes applied on one side of a substrate, and bonded test specimen addresses impressively the complex context between material properties and the fire behaviour of bonds.
The paper „Fire behavior of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and bonded materials” is the first of a series of three articles obtained from this thematically strategic project settled in the Priority Themes lightweight construction and fire science.
Fire behavior of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and bonded materials
Vitus Hupp, Bernhard Schartel, Kerstin Flothmeier, Andreas Hartwig
Fire and Materials 2024, 48, 114-127