We have noticed several fire events in buildings. You must be wondering how these fires spread throughout the building. Is it a building material that catches and spreads the fire? But how can these materials be so flammable?
Well, these questions are left unanswered all the time. One cannot assume how the fire spread during the time of emergency. It creates a lot of damage to the resistant or the building owners. The damage may also affect the areas around the building. However, it is necessary to choose everything very wisely while preparing for the building construction.
In this article, you will know about the fire-resistant properties of some commonly used building materials. Choosing the right building material for construction is as necessary as choosing the right equipment such as a crane for sale. Hence, it is necessary to be mindful enough about them.
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Stone
Stones are a widely used material in building construction. They are usually very bad conductors of heat. When it comes into contact with fire, it doesn’t spread and cools down quickly. It has been seen that the stone can easily disintegrate into small pieces on heating.
On the other hand, granite has the property of exploding when in contact with fire. Limestone can be crushed down on fire rapidly. Another one, sandstone is found to be moderately sensitive to fire.
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Bricks
Bricks are good fire-resistant. However, when the temperature rises up to 1200-1300°C it may be affected seriously. As they are a bad conductor of heat so they cannot spread the fire over. It is a widely used material in the building but it has its own limitations. one should keep in mind every aspect before using it in the building construction.
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Timber
The use of timber in the construction of a building is very old. However, it is not very common in every part of the world. It is indeed a very good fire-resistant material as it cannot conduct or pass the heat efficiently. When it comes to contact with fire, it takes a lot of time to erupt. Although, the composition of timber is a little sensitive to fire. But using timber with other chemicals makes it strong enough to stand against fire. The chemical used with timber is ammonium phosphate and sulfate, borax and boric acid, zinc chloride, etc. It can be used as a safe material in building construction.
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Cast Iron
Cast iron is not very common nowadays. However, it has been widely used in the previous century. When it comes in contact with fire, it flies into pieces. When cast iron is used in building construction, it is shielded with other materials such as bricks and concrete to cover them up. It is indeed a good fire-resistant material.
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Glass
Glass is a very common material that has often used in construction. It is a very bad conductor of heat but it expands when the temperature goes up. The glass cannot be used in construction alone. It is required to be coupled with other materials to make it stronger. On the other hand, the heat can make it miserable as it can crack and may cause severe damage.
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Steel
Steel is considered a very good conductor of heat. Hence it is not used directly in the construction of buildings. On heating, it gets hotter and expands which may cause damage to the building. It also expands so the use of steel alone in the construction is not recommended. When the temperature rises up to 1400°C it will completely melt.
The steel is often used in making doors and windows and is painted fir resistant over them.
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Concrete
Concrete is a very common and widely used building material. It is great resistance to fire. Whereas the quality of cement and stones determines the spread of fire. Concrete can stand against heat up to a certain high temperature of 1000°C. It is estimated that the concrete can resist fire for about one hour. Before the construction of a building, you should know about all the necessary precautions of it.
Conclusion
Fire is a very common incident that occurs frequently in buildings. It is quite difficult to understand if the building material makes it spread over the building. The right building material can save you like the right construction equipment such as a crane for sale. However, in this article, we have gathered some facts about the fire-resistant properties of widely used building materials. Stone, Bricks, Cast Iron, and Timber are bad conductors of heat hence they cannot spread the fire. Whereas, the widely used building material concrete stands really strong against fire. Choose the right building
