Fire rating of Steel Buildings

When we talk about steel buildings or preengineered buildings, the first thingwhich comes in our mind is how muchthese buildings are fire resistant.Generally, following are the questionsstart bothering us:

What about fire rating of a steelbuilding?

Intumescent paint used is tooexpensive and how to ensure qualityof this at site?

Are there simpler ways to improve fire rating of a steel building?

So, the answer of all theses questions is YES bare steel building does not offer agood fire rating unless measures are taken to improve the same. There are numberof ways to improve fire rating in a steel building.

1. We can use AAC blocks in the wall cladding. AAC blocks offer good firerating. There thermal conductivity of .15 against .85 of bricks 7 times higherresistant to thermal conductivity. 200 mm wall of AAC blocks offer above 4hours of fire rating. Now there are 11 manufacturers of AAC blocks in NCRregion and there price is cheaper than normal bricks. Use of AAC blocks willreduce surface area of steel which need to be covered for fire rating.

2. Cement fibre board of 12 mm offers 1 hour fire rating. By using 2 layers ofthis board 2 hours of fire rating can be achieved easily. On top of fibre boardany kind of interior finish can be applied. These boards are preferred to coververtical columns or beams.

3. H-Beams along walls should be filled with AAC blocks or normal bricks. Thisis cost effective and easier way of improving fire rating as compared to othertechniques.

4. Intumescent paint can be used as a coating as one of the alternatives. At thetime of fire this paint swells and creates a protective layer on top of steel. It isconsidered as a good alternative and these days its prices have come down.But still it is an expensive proposition. Paint has to be applied at plant under

quality controlled conditions and patch ups need to be applied at site.

5. In case of composite construction steel is covered with concrete and its firerating is improved. Slab is always preferred as a composite slab. Compositeslab has got advantages:

It provides diaphragm action to the whole building. It helps in saving steel tothe tune of 10% in structural steel.

We can use decking sheet which removes the need for temporary form work.Decking sheet is fixed to the beams using shear studs. There after nominalsteel (6 or 7 mm welded mesh at 200 c/c) is required in the slabs to avoidsurface cracks. Small amount of Bottom steel in valley area can be provided inthe slabs does away with the need to improve fire rating of joists. In case offire due to this extra steel slab will hold on.

6. UC sections which are available in high strength steel are quite common worldover. In India JSPL manufacturers the same. These are sections having high steelthickness. In multi-storey building these sections offer lot many advantages if usedas columns. These are compact sections offer very good section propertiescompared to others. Higher thickness of these sections reduce risk towards rusting.Despite all these properties these sections are quite economic in medium risebuildings. Higher thickness of steel improves fire ratings and decreases surfacearea.

Hence, it is not expensive to provide good fire rating in a steel building utilizingknowledge and different materials.

Inputs provided by Mr. Sushil Gupta, Chairman Richa Industries Limited

For more information, kindly contact:

Ms.Richa GaurCorporate CommunicationPlot No-29, DLF Industrial Area, Ph-II,Faridabad, Haryana, India - 121003Mob:+91 9718998811Email: r.gaur@richa.inWebsite: www.richa.in

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