Development of low cost ceramic moulding composites as fire barriers

This paper investigates the fire barrier and heat insulation properties of newly developed low cost ceramic mouldable composites using a modern small scale testing method which exposes testing panels to the fire on one surface. At the same time, the temperature on the unexposed surface was measured and recorded constantly. Compared to glass/phenolic laminates and other polymer composites, it was observed that the low cost ceramic composites could withstand much longer time in the fire and were much more stable during fire testing without being structurally damaged under the severe thermal heat environment. The indications of the fire penetration give a promising applications future for these materials in construction, transportation, aerospace, etc. as high temperature thermal insulation and heat barriers. ©2009 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.