Investigation of the Fire Resistance of Panels of Porous Papercrete, Containing Expanded Polystyrene Gravel

Papercrete panels are used in low-rise and individual construction intensively with each year. This article is devoted to the study of fire resistance of fragments of wall panels, which made of porous papercrete on wood shreds and containing expanded polystyrene gravel. While maintaining the compressive strength, partial replacement of the crushed stone with polystyrene gravel allowed to reduce the humidity, reduce the average density and increase the thermal resistance of the products. In order to determine the time to the onset of the limiting state of fire resistance of papercrete panels with a modified composition, fire tests were conducted. In the process of fire exposure in the heating zone of the sample, polystyrene was smelted from the volume of papercrete with the formation of voids and microcracks. The results of the study under the effect of fire on the "standard fire" mode for 3.75 hours and 2.5 hours on samples of fragments of wall panels made of porous papercrete containing expanded polystyrene gravel showed that none of the two limiting states was reached. There is a possibility of practical application of the obtained scientific results in questions of increasing the operational reliability of low-rise construction. (paper)