Author

ROSEMANN, F.; MORAES, P. D.; ROMAN, H. R.
Federal University of Santa Catarina, Department of Civil Engineering

Abstract

The thermal insulation of structural walls under fire situation is one of the main requirements together with structural integrity and stability. It is well known the good performance of blockwork under fire. However very little work has been done in Brazil to evaluate the behavior of Brazilian clay blockmasonry as a fire insulation material. The paper describes tests carried out to establish the fire resistance of two different types of blockwork arrangements. A hollow clay block measuring 14 cm x19 cm x 29 cm was used. The compressive strength of the unit was 9 N/mm2. The test was made according to Brazilian Standard 5628. 270 cm wide by 270 cm high walls were tested either with or without 15 mm thick mortar rendering and with the block hollow or filled with dry sand. The results have shown that hollow walls filled with sand and without rendering had fire resistance of 240 minutes whilst wall with 15 mm mortar rendering on both sides produced fire resistance up to 390 minutes.

Key words
structural blockwork, clay block, fire behavior, thermal insulation