‘Breakthrough’ fire test

Wrightstyle has announced “a significant and breakthrough” fire test of its WSL SR60 curtain wall framing system with Schott Pyranova 120 glass.

The test at WarringtonFire was carried out with the exterior building surface facing into the furnace.

The significance is that the SR60 system has been tested to be dual directional fire resistant, making the system suitable for places where a high level of integrity and insulation is required, the company said.

The target performance was to achieve EI120 (120 minutes integrity and insulation).

“In the event, the test ran for a period of 148 minutes, exceeding the criteria for a pass by 23%.” Chris Peters, design manager at Wrightstyle, said. “Such a comfortable overrun is rare in high-performance tests.

“Its significance is that many specifiers don’t pay enough attention to the fact that a fire can start on either side of a fire-rated glazing system. In other words, the specified glazing system will provide protection, but only in one direction.”

It’s a safety issue that Wrightstyle has recognised as important in, for example, atria, shopping centres or airports. But it can also provide greater fire protection between high risk areas such as car parks and lower risk areas such as offices, or between buildings.

The test also incorporated steel spandrel panels, making it one of the first alternative infill options to achieve two hours of integrity and insulation, the company said.

Spandrel panels can have both functional and aesthetic purposes, and generally have to meet thermal, acoustic, fire performance and moisture requirements.

Full furnace temperature was achieved after some 60 minutes into the test, with a peak temperature of 1,050ºC.

The test module size was 3m by 3m, and the test was jointly carried out by Wrightstyle and Schott Technical Glass Solutions.