Modular Fire-Resistant Building Covering for Wildfire Defense
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fire protection devices are insufficient for protecting buildings from external fires, such as wildfires, as they rely on active firefighting measures that may not be feasible when fire services are overwhelmed, leaving residential buildings vulnerable.
Innovation Solution
A passive fire protection device constructed from multiple plies of fire-resistant materials, including a glass fibre layer, which can be assembled from surface sections connected by loops and secured to a building using a support structure, providing a comprehensive and easily deployable barrier against external fires.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If active firefighting measures are used, then fire protection effectiveness is improved, but resource requirements and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fire protection device enables buildings to protect themselves from external fires without requiring external fire services. The passive protective covering automatically provides fire resistance through its material properties (glass fibre layers, mineral fibres) without needing active intervention, resources, or complex operational systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the essential fire protection function from complex active firefighting systems and implements it through a simple passive covering structure. By removing the need for water supply systems, pumps, and active firefighting mechanisms, the solution achieves fire protection through basic fire-resistant materials alone.
2Ease of operation
If passive protective covering is applied, then ease of deployment is improved, but comprehensive coverage and protection reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The protective covering is divided into multiple plies or layers, including outer protective layers and inner fire-resistant layers with glass fibres and mineral fibres. This segmentation allows each layer to perform specific functions while maintaining overall simplicity of deployment and ensuring comprehensive fire protection through layered defense.
Solution Approach 2:
The covering combines different fire-resistant materials (glass fibre layers, mineral fibres, basalt fibre) into a composite structure. This composite construction enhances fire protection reliability by utilizing the complementary properties of different materials while maintaining the simplicity of a passive covering system that can be easily deployed.
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 device effectively prevents structural elements of a building from catching fire by creating a fire-resistant barrier that can withstand prolonged exposure, even without active firefighting, and can be easily assembled and expanded to cover entire buildings or streets, offering protection for both structures and people.
Implementation Method 1
the covering is constructed from multiple plies, and that one of the plies includes a glass fibre layer. This construction in multiple plies lends the covering toughness, thermal insulation properties, and the capability to resist fire.
Implementation Method 2
Since the covering is made from a fire-resistant material, the fire may reach it, but it is not destroyed by the fire. Accordingly, structural elements of a building behind the covering are prevented from catching fire.
Data Source
AI summary
In a fire protection device for protecting a zone in which a building and/or people is/are located, it is suggested that it be constructed from fire-resistant material and be larger than the spatial dimensions of the zone to be protected. This fire protection device particularly enables the owner or resident of a building to protect the building from the threat of an external fire even when the fire service is not present.