Mechanisms of Char Strengthening in the Fibre Reinforced Intumescent Coatings

Intumescent coatings are used to protect steel structures from fire attack. However, soft chars from traditional formulations make the protection less effective. The aim of this research was to study three formulations of Fibre Reinforced Intumescent Coatings (FRIC) using various types of wool fibres. Fibre reinforcement was introduced to strengthen the coatings and their chars for better fire protection to the substrate. The FRIC coatings were fired to 800°C for 1 h duration in a furnace to produce fibre reinforced chars. Examination using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) was conducted on the coatings and their chars for morphology study. These scans explained the roles played by the fibres, where a number of mechanisms in strengthening the chars were observed. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) Spectroscopy analysis between the coatings and their chars showed that FRIC was able to sustain high temperature materials and therefore was considered to have rise the char strength and fire protection. These findings concluded that fibre reinforcement strengthened FRIC chars in four mechanisms.