R&D CENTER
Choose the reactivity of a human scale structure
Do you have a specific fire risk problem ?
Our R&D team will show you the solution and we will work together with you to make your project a success.
Our strength : studying the link between formulation and final properties of our materials such as fire resistance, mechanical resistance, weight reduction, aesthetics, cutting, machinability, bonding, etc.
An evolution is possible to meet each specific requirement or to find an
optimal response to a multiple problem.
FIRE ASSESSMENT CHARACTERISTICS
Our R&D center is fitted with equipment of complementary sizes: from the decimetric scale allowing the formulations to evolve quickly, to the metric scale allowing the fire behavior of a representative structural element to be validated. This multi-scale approach allows us to study the influence of the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of our fire resistant materials and panels on their resistance to flames.
Our equipment allows us to reproduce the conditions of the EI 30 to EI 240 certification tests. Change in applied temperature is controlled and corresponds to the regulatory curve ISO 834 as recommended by the regulations for a validation test and as practiced by a certifying body for the qualification of a fire resistant panel.
Our tests are instrumented, thermocouples and temperature probes allow us to monitor the the applied temperature gradient within the test chamber but also the changes in temperatures observed in the material or in the structural element. A data acquisition unit allows us to record the responses of all the sensors in real time and to accurately restore thermal behavior.
The behavior of our fire resistant panels is remarkable. It is characterised by a temperature plateau lasting tens of minutes, the result of endothermic chain reactions occurring at the heart of the material.
The duration of this temperature plateau, and therefore the thermal insulation of our panel, can be adjusted according to the composition of the latter and its thickness.
These internal tests are part of both quality control and evaluation of our product innovations.
ASSESSMENT OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Our collaboration with laboratories of prestigious engineering schools (INSA Lyon, HEPIA Geneva) allows us access to their testing facilities and their expertise, when conducting mechanical tests.
Thus, the physical and mechanical properties of our materials are evaluated at different stages of the curing process from the raw state to the final hardening.
As with temperature tests, the range of physical and mechanical properties of our materials and the protocols put in place are part of both a quality control approach and the evaluation of our product innovations.
Compression test
