Insulation Panel Backing Layer Fire Resistance Cost Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multilayer insulating panels for buildings face challenges in maintaining gas-tight properties and achieving adequate fire resistance while keeping production costs low, particularly due to the need for thick and costly aluminium backing layers.
Innovation Solution
A multilayer insulating panel design featuring gas-tight reinforcement layers with a combination of metal and expandable graphite-based fire-resistant layers, which expand to create a barrier against flames, reducing the necessity for thick aluminium layers and enhancing fire resistance without compromising gas-tightness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If thick aluminium backing layers are used to achieve adequate fire resistance, then fire resistance is improved, but manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a thin aluminium layer (0.5-5 μm) with a fire-resistant coating layer containing intumescent compounds. This composite structure achieves adequate fire resistance (classifying as B or C according to EN 13501-1) while using significantly less aluminium than traditional thick layers (>80 μm), thereby reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining fire safety performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameters of the backing layer system by reducing the aluminium thickness from >80 μm to 0.5-5 μm and compensating for the reduced fire resistance through the addition of a fire-resistant coating. This parameter change allows the panel to achieve the required fire classification through the synergistic effect of the thin metal layer and the intumescent coating, rather than relying solely on thick aluminium.
2Ease of manufacture
If thin aluminium layers are used to reduce manufacturing cost, then production cost is reduced, but fire resistance becomes inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite backing layer system where a thin aluminium layer (0.5-5 μm) is combined with a fire-resistant coating containing intumescent compounds. The thin aluminium provides gas-tightness and basic fire barrier properties, while the intumescent coating expands under heat to form a protective char layer, together achieving adequate fire resistance classification (B or C according to EN 13501-1) that neither layer could achieve alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The fire-resistant coating acts as an intermediary layer between the thin aluminium backing and the fire hazard. This coating contains intumescent compounds that activate under fire conditions, expanding to form a protective barrier that mediates the thermal and mechanical stresses, thereby enabling the thin aluminium layer to provide adequate fire resistance without requiring thick metal sections.
3Reliability
If gas-tight coating is applied to limit gaseous phase diffusion, then gas-tight properties are improved, but fire resistance becomes dependent on expensive thick aluminium layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a composite backing layer structure where a gas-tight metal layer (0.5-5 μm thick) is combined with a fire-resistant coating containing intumescent compounds. This composite approach simultaneously provides gas-tight properties (preventing diffusion of the gaseous phase from the closed-cell foam) and adequate fire resistance (classifying as B or C according to EN 13501-1), eliminating the need for expensive thick aluminium layers (>80 μm) that would be required if used alone.
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 solution provides improved fire resistance and maintains gas-tight properties over time, reducing production costs by eliminating the need for thick aluminium layers and enhancing flame barrier effectiveness, while also protecting against gas diffusion and mechanical damage.
Implementation Method 1
expandable graphite-based fire-resistant layers, which expand to create a barrier against flames
Implementation Method 2
the phenomenon of diffusion of the gaseous phase is limited by the application on both sides of the panel of a coating impermeable to diffusion
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The invention relates to a backing layer (10; 20) of a multilayered insulating panel (100) for building constructions. Said backing layer comprises: - a gas-tight reinforcement layer (1) comprising a first surface (F1) and an opposite second surface (F2) ; - a fire-resistant layer (2) for example in expandable material, operatively associated to the first surface (F1) of the reinforcement layer (1). The gas-tight reinforcement layer (1) comprises a metal layer (1A).