Enhancement Of Strength And Fire Resistance Properties Of Intumescent Coatings By Basalt Fibre

Intumescent coating is widely used in the world industry in order for protection of steel. However current formulation of intumescent coating can be improved to provide better fire protection. The aim of this research is to characterize and analyze basalt fiber for potential use as reinforcement in intumescent coating. The formulations were developed using melamine (MEL), expandable graphite (EG), ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and boric acid (BA). There are six formulations of intumescent fire coating with varied fiber content and length and a control formulation without fiber. The coating sample was applied on mild steel substrate. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test have been conducted to inspect fiber condition, fiber dispersion and the cell structure of both chars and coatings. Fire resistance, which is the capacity of material or construction to withstand fire or give protection, has been determined by conducting Bunsen burner test according to UL1709. In order to study the thermal properties of the intumescent coating such as residual weight and degradation temperature, Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) have been conducted. The char product was tested with char performance strength test to check the char strength with the various fibre compositions. The result showed that intumescent coating reinforced by basalt fiber produced better strength and fire resistance. Formulation B9-6 significantly reduces temperature of the steel substrate by 25% to around 269°C when compared with control formulation and improved char strength as the char reduction percentage is only 18.75