Fire Resistant Glazing Intumescent Interlayer Foam Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fire-resistant glazings with alkali metal silicate interlayers face challenges in achieving uniform and high-density foam structures, mechanical stability, and delamination during fires, due to issues with water loss rates and mechanical creep.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a foam improvement additive with a polymer, oligomer, or salts containing hydrogen-bondable functional groups, such as organically-surface modified silica or hydrocolloids, into the alkali metal silicate interlayer to enhance foam properties and improve mechanical adhesion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a cast-in-place process is used to form a silicate interlayer, then the solution can be poured into the space between two opposed panes, but the water content of the solution causes rapid water loss during curing which leads to non-uniform intumescence and potential structure failure
Solution Approach 1:
A polymer additive is introduced as an intermediary substance within the silicate solution. This polymer acts as a water retention agent that controls the rate of water loss during curing, preventing rapid evaporation while maintaining the solution's pourability. The polymer mediates between the conflicting requirements of ease of application and uniform foam formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the chemical composition parameters of the silicate solution by adding a polymer substance. This changes the physical properties of the solution, specifically its water retention characteristics and viscosity, allowing it to maintain pourability while controlling water loss rate during the curing process to achieve uniform intumescence.
2Manufacturing precision
If glycerol is added to the silicate interlayer to produce smoother foam, then the foam quality improves, but the mechanical properties of the gel material are softened detrimentally
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using glycerol to achieve the desired foam smoothness, the patent employs a polymer additive that replicates the beneficial foam-forming effects without the detrimental impact on mechanical strength. The polymer copies the functional benefit (smooth foam) while avoiding the harmful side effect (softening of gel structure).
3Ease of manufacture
If the silicate solution has low viscosity to be poured easily, then the ease of manufacture improves, but the cured interlayer may not be sufficiently rigid to be retained in position through the lifetime of the glazing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a dynamic system where the silicate solution exhibits low viscosity during the pouring and curing phases for ease of manufacture, then undergoes a transformation to achieve high rigidity in the final cured state. The polymer additive enables this dynamic transition by controlling water loss rate during curing, allowing the material to evolve from a pourable liquid to a rigid structural component.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The additive results in a slower and more controlled water release, improved mechanical strength, and effective delamination during fires, reducing heat radiation and hydrostatic creep, while maintaining transparency and clarity.
Implementation Method 1
a foam improvement additive, wherein said foam improvement additive comprises a polymer and/or oligomer and/or salts thereof, wherein said polymer, oligomer and/or salts thereof each contain at least one organic moiety having at least one hydrogen-bondable functional group covalently attached thereto
Implementation Method 2
These silicate interlayers intumesce upon exposure to heat to form an opaque foam. The foam serves to assist the structure of the glazing and acts as a barrier to radiant heat.
Implementation Method 3
the water content of the solution is generally retained in the cured interlayer. This high water content can absorb significant quantities of heat during a fire and the steam generated causes the intumescence of the interlayer.
Implementation Method 4
EP-A-590 978 describes a process for the production of a fire resistant glass wherein the interlayer comprising an aqueous gel comprising an acrylamide polymer and a particulate metal oxide is produced by introducing a dispersion comprising an acrylamide precursor, the particulate metal oxide and a photopolymerisation initiator between the glass panes and irradiating the dispersion thereby polymerising the precursors.
Data Source
AI summary
A transparent fire resistant glazing comprising an intumescent interlayer, wherein the intumescent interlayer comprises an alkali metal silicate and a foam improvement additive, wherein the foam improvement additive comprises a polymer and/or oligomer and/or salts thereof, wherein said polymer, oligomer and/or salts thereof each contain at least one organic moiety having at least one hydrogen-bondable functional group covalently attached thereto.