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Developments in Characterising the Structural Behaviour of Composites in Fire

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Composite Materials

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to review some recent developments in the characterisation and modelling of the fire behaviour of organic matrix composites, relating especially their behaviour under load. The development and modelling of small-scale fire tests under load will be discussed. These tests are aimed at providing more cost-effective methods of characterising load-bearing behaviour of composites in fire than were available hitherto, and to provide a framework within which materials development could take place. The application of these tests to particular composite systems will be described, and it will be shown that results obtained on a small scale under controlled conditions with composites can be readily applied to modelling the fire performance of larger composite structures.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported here was carried out in research programmes at Newcastle University UK and at RMIT Australia. The authors wish to acknowledge the support of two organisations that have contributed to the advances described: the United States Office of Naval Research (under Grant Nos N00014-04-10026 and N00014-07-10514) and the European Union (Marie Curie Momentum Research Transfer Network on Multidisciplinary Research and Training on Composite Materials Applications in Transport Modes. Contract number MRTN/CT/2005/019198).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Composite Materials Engineering, Stephenson Building, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    A. G. Gibson

  2. School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, 3001, Australia

    S. Feih & A. P. Mouritz

Authors
  1. A. G. Gibson
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  2. S. Feih
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  3. A. P. Mouritz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. G. Gibson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. IMAST Scarl, Piazzale Enrico Fermi 1, Portici, 80055, Napoli, Italy

    Luigi Nicolais

  2. , Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom

    Michele Meo

  3. IMAST Scarl, Piazzale Enrico Fermi 1, Portici, 80055, Napoli, Italy

    Eva Milella

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Gibson, A.G., Feih, S., Mouritz, A.P. (2011). Developments in Characterising the Structural Behaviour of Composites in Fire. In: Nicolais, L., Meo, M., Milella, E. (eds) Composite Materials. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-166-0_8

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