TY - JOUR A1 - Tabaka, Weronika A1 - Timme, Sebastian A1 - Lauterbach, Tobias A1 - Medina, L. A1 - Berglund, L. A. A1 - Carosio, F. A1 - Duquesne, S. A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Bench-scale fire stability testing - Assessment of protective systems on carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites N2 - Fire resistance testing of components made of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) usually demands intermediate-scale or full-scale testing. A bench-scale test is presented as a practicable and efficient method to assess how different fire protective systems improve the structural integrity of CFRPs during fire. The direct flame of a fully developed fire was applied to one side of the CFRP specimen, which was simultaneously loaded with compressive force. Three different approaches (film, non-woven, and coatings) were applied: paper with a thickness in the range of μm consisting of cellulose nanofibre (CNF)/clay nanocomposite, nonwoven mats with thickness in the range of cm and intumescent coatings with a thickness in the range of mm. The uncoated specimen failed after just 17 s. Protection by these systems provides fire stability, as they multiply the time to failure by as much as up to 43 times. The reduced heating rates of the protected specimens demonstrate the reduced heat penetration, indicating the coatings’ excellent heat shielding properties. Bench-scale fire stability testing is shown to be suitable tool to identify, compare and assess different approaches to fire protection. KW - Fire stability KW - Bench-scale fire resistance KW - Carbon fibre reinforced polymer KW - Protective coatings PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-532401 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2021.107340 SN - 0142-9418 SN - 1873-2348 VL - 102 SP - 7340 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-53240 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jauregui Rozo, Maria A1 - Sunder, S. A1 - Tabaka, Weronika A1 - Klaffke, Benjamin A1 - Ruckdäschel, H. A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Unveiling aluminum diethyl phosphinate dual identity: Transfer from epoxy resins to glass fiber-reinforced composites N2 - This study examines the transfer of the flame-retardant aluminum diethyl phosphinate (AlPi) from epoxy resins to composites and the impact of AlPi on fire behavior and fire stability. Further, the effects of different particle sizes and the addition of zinc hydroxy stannate (ZHS) and inorganic silicate (InSi) are investigated. The research provides a detailed analysis of the fire behavior, fire stability, pyrolysis, flame-retardant modes of action, and flame retardancy index. Interestingly, the particle sizes did not significantly affect the flammability, fire behavior, or fire stability in the systems investigated. AlPi acts primarily in the gas phase, releasing phosphorus that yields flame inhibition. Adding glass fibers (GFs) to the epoxy resin boosts the flame retardancy in the condensed phase, reducing the heat release rate (HRR), total heat release (THR), and peak heat release rate (PHRR) by about 60%. This improvement is largely due to replacing fuel and forming a protective layer during burning. Despite the differences between thermoset and composite, the study demonstrates an effective transfer of flame-retardant properties from epoxy resins to fiber-reinforced composites, significantly enhancing the flame retardancy performance in both material systems. KW - Aluminum diethyl phosphinate KW - Epoxy resins KW - Fire behavior KW - Fire stability KW - Gas-phase active KW - Glass fiber-reinforced composites KW - Particle sizes PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-643013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.29911 SN - 1548-0569 SN - 0272-8397 VL - 46 IS - 14 SP - 12981 EP - 12999 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-64301 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tabaka, Weronika A1 - Meinel, Dietmar A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Sacrifice Few to Save Many: Fire Protective Interlayers in Carbon- Fiber-Reinforced Laminates N2 - The fire protection of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates often relies on flame-retardant coatings, but in some applications, their efficacy may diminish upon direct fire exposure due to rapid pyrolysis. This study introduces an innovative approach by integrating protective interlayers within the laminate structure to enhance the fire resistance. Various materials, including ceramic composite WHIPOX, titanium foil, poly(etherimide) (PEI) foil, basalt fibers, rubber mat, and hemp fibers, were selected as protective interlayers. These interlayers were strategically placed within the laminate layout to form a sacrificial barrier, safeguarding the integrity of the composite. Bench-scale fire resistance tests were conducted, where fire (180 kW/m2) was applied directly to the one side of the specimen by a burner while a compressive load was applied at the same time. Results indicate significant prolongation of time to failure for CFRP laminates with protective interlayers, which is up to 10 times longer. This innovative approach represents a potential advance in fire protection strategies for CFRP laminates, offering improved resilience against fire-induced structural failure. KW - Composites in fire KW - Fire resistance KW - Fire retardant interlayers KW - Laminate design KW - Carbon fibre reinforced PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601943 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c01408 SN - 2470-1343 VL - 9 IS - 22 SP - 23703 EP - 23712 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-60194 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Tabaka, Weronika T1 - Bench-scale fire stability testing - Protective layers in carbon fibre reinforced polymer laminates N2 - Fire resistance testing of components made of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) composites usually demands intermediate-scale or full-scale testing. In this study, a bench-scale test is presented as a practicable and efficient method to assess the improvement in structural integrity of CFRP with different protective interlayers during fire. T2 - International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM23) CY - Belfast, UK DA - 30.07.2023 KW - Fire resistance KW - Bench-scale testing KW - Carbon fibre reinforced polymer composite PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58099 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zirnstein, Benjamin A1 - Tabaka, Weronika A1 - Frasca, Daniele A1 - Schulze, Dietmar A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Graphene / hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber nanocomposites: Dispersion, curing, mechanical reinforcement, multifunctional filler N2 - Elastomers are usually mechanically reinforced with high loadings of carbon black (CB) to achieve the properties demanded; high amounts of mineral flame retardants are used to fulfill fire safety requirements. In this study, multilayer graphene (MLG), a nanoparticle made of only 10 graphene sheets, is applied in low loadings, 3 parts per hundred rubber (phr) to reduce the total amount of filler or boost performance in hydrogenated acrylonitrilebutadiene rubber (HNBR). In the HNBR/MLG nanocomposites, 3 phr MLG replaced 15 phr CB, 3 phr aluminum trihydroxide (ATH), or 15 phr CB + 3 phr ATH. The nanocomposites were prepared via master batch by ultrasonically assisted solution mixing and subsequent conventional two-roll milling. A comprehensive study is presented, illustrating the impact of MLG on curing and mechanical properties; e.g. replacing 2.5 phr ATH with 3 phr MLG increased the Young's modulus by over 60% and hardness by 10%, while improving flame retardancy, and reducing the total heat evolved by 10%. MLG is a multifunctional filler, as demonstrated by various enhancements in terms of the mechanical and flame retardancy properties of the rubber composites. KW - Nanocomposite KW - Rubber KW - Graphene PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2018.01.035 SN - 0142-9418 SN - 1873-2348 VL - 66 SP - 268 EP - 279 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-44457 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Tabaka, Weronika T1 - Bench-scale fire stability testing – The most effective method to investigate structural integrity of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites N2 - Fire resistance testing of components made of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) composites usually demands intermediate-scale or full-scale testing. In this study a bench-scale test is presented as practicable and efficient method to assess the improvement in structural integrity of CFRP with different protective coatings during fire. T2 - FRPM 2019, 17th European Meeting on Fire Retardant Polymeric Materials CY - Turku, Finland DA - 26.06.2019 KW - Composite in Fire KW - Fire Stability KW - Bench-scale Fire Testing KW - Intumescencent Coatings KW - Nanopaper PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48555 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tabaka, Weronika A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Less is More: Optimised Fire Performance in Glass Fibre-reinforced Polybutylene Terephthalate Laminates with Concentrated Flame Retardant Top Layer N2 - To achieve optimum fire performance while maintaining mechanical integrity, flame retardants (FR) were strategically concentrated in the surface layer of a two-layer glass fibre-reinforced polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) laminate structure. Three potentially synergistic FR systems were selected to improve the fire performance of glass fibre-reinforced PBT: boehmite (AlOOH) with melamine polyzinc phosphate (MPZnP), aluminium diethyl phosphinates (AlPi) with melamine cyanurate (MC), and expandable graphite (EG) with melamine polyphosphate (MPP). Limited Oxygen Index (LOI) and UL-94 testing highlighted the influence of laminate architecture on flammability. The cone calorimeter results showed that increasing the FR concentration in the top layer significantly reduced both the peak heat release rate (PHRR) and the maximum average rate of heat emission (MARHE), with improvements depending on the specific FR system used. The laminate L-PBT/GF/AlOOH/MPZnP with a 2:2 thickness ratio showed outstanding performance, achieving a 45 % reduction in MARHE compared to composites with uniform FR distribution. This result showcases the superior thermal barrier properties and synergistic behaviour of AlOOH and MPZnP. The fire performance of laminates containing AlPi and MC was strongly influenced by the distribution and concentration of AlPi/MC. The EG/MPP system was found to be highly effective, forming a protective intumescent layer that significantly reduced both HRR and MARHE, demonstrating the effectiveness of strategically concentrating FR in the top layer. KW - Glass fibres KW - PBT KW - Flame retardants KW - Composites KW - Laminates KW - Fire behaviour KW - Flammability PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626381 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomc.2025.100577 SN - 2666-6820 VL - 16 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-62638 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Tabaka, Weronika T1 - Bench-scale fire stability testing of carbon fibre reinforced polymer laminates with protective layers N2 - Fire resistance testing of components made of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) composites usually demands intermediate-scale or full-scale testing. In this study, a bench-scale test is presented as a practicable and efficient method to assess the improvement in structural integrity of CFRP with different protective interlayers during fire. Fire stability is one of the biggest issues of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, particularly when they are using in load bearing applications. As soon as the glass transition temperature of polymer matrix (100-200°C) is achieved, the composite loses its structural integrity, what leads to the distortion and failure. The principal fire stability test is based on simultaneous application of fire and mechanical load. Since the carbon fibres can transfer the tensile loads quite well, the compression load is chosen as a required mechanical load for a test. The fire tests were preceded by a static load test at room temperature to determine ultimate failure load. The specimen was loaded with a compression force until the failure load was reached, which was observed as a buckling. For the fire tests, 10% of compression failure load and direct flame of a fully developed fire (heat flux ≈ 180 kW m-2) were applied simultaneously to the specimen, while the time to failure was measured. The possibilities of bench-scale fire stability testing were presented by investigating new types of laminate structures, which exhibit promising flame retardancy and fireproof properties. The new approach of CFRP laminate differs with a protective concept. Every system consists of two different interlayers (titanium foil, thermoplastic foil PEI, ceramic layer WHIPOX, rubber tape Pyrostat, basalt fibres and kenaf fibres), where the one layer constitutes the fireproof protection, that delays the rise of temperature in the rest of laminate, and the second layer provides very good structural connection with carbon fibre layers, thus improves the mechanical integrity of CFRP composite in fire. The time to failure of CFRP composite was 17s. Protective systems significantly enhance the fire stability and increased time to failure by 3 to 10 times. Thicker specimens showed longer resistance time, however CFRP laminate with ceramic layer and titanium foil presented outstanding results and the best performance. The protection with Kenaf and basalt fibres offered a natural fibre solution with also good fire resistance performance Although bench-scale tests are limited with respect to assessing the performance of components and structures, they are valuable in the assessment of different materials concepts. Furthermore, the reduced effort of conducting bench-scale test (lower costs, time, personnel resources) makes it more practical and effective. T2 - 19th European meeting on Fire Retardant Polymeric Materials (FRPM23) CY - Dübendorf, Switzerland DA - 26.06.2023 KW - Fire resistance KW - Carbon fibre reinforced polymer KW - Bench-scale testing PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57880 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -