Three new IGF projects in the field of fire protection and timber construction have started

11 July 2022

Innovative and environmentally friendly intumescent flame-retardant coatings for decorative wood surfaces for exterior applications in building construction

Generally, wood and wood-based materials are classed among the normally flammable building materials, whose utilization in the exterior areas of multi-story buildings poses a major challenge in terms of the legally required flame retardancy. In order to improve fire protection, the wood surfaces must be coated with an intumescent coating that cannot be destroyed by dimensional changes resulting from swelling and shrinkage. At the same time, it is essential that the flame retardants used in the coating cannot be washed out.

As demonstrated through completed AiF projects, textiles made of cellulose can be successfully equipped with flame retardants based on phosphorus- and nitrogen-containing silanes and on phosphazenes. The objective of the project is the transfer of the application of these halogen-free flame retardants to wood surfaces. An appropriately weather-resistant fire-protection coating should thereby be enabled, which will make the wood surface flame-retardant in accordance with the 2019 Musterbauordnung (German Standard Building Regulations). In addition to the flame-retardant requirements, a decorative wood appearance is simultaneously being sought. The demand for efficient, durable and halogen-free flame retardant finishes for application on wood in exterior areas is high and of great economic interest for SMEs.

The IGF project 21993 N has started on 1 January 2022 and is performed by the Fraunhofer WKI and the Deutsches Textilforschungszentrum Nord West gGmbH (German textile research center northwest) in Krefeld.

Positional imperfections of self-drilling screws in wood and wood-based materials

Positional imperfections (German: Lageimperfektionen, LIP) are unintentional deviations between the planned and actual axis of screws inserted into wood. In the case of long screws, they are no longer compensated for by given tolerances. As a result, collisions between screws as well as other adverse effects are possible. This can cause damage and reduce the safety of screwed constructions. The solution to this technical problem forms the task of the project. As the scientific basis for the description of LIP is currently lacking, the objective of the project is to create the necessary basis and, consequently, to prevent LIP.

The work on the IGF project 22427 N has recently started and is being carried out at the Institute of Timber Structures and Building Construction at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Development of hybrid components made from steel and wood for increasing the load-bearing capacity and fire resistance of steel structures

Structures with steel girders require a more elaborate form of fire protection than, for example, steel-reinforced-concrete structures, which places their utilization in new buildings in the spotlight. In contrast to concrete, wood as a renewable raw material offers significant advantages as a result of its lower mass. Hybrid components made from steel and wood enable the positive properties of both materials to be combined in terms of load-bearing behavior, fire resistance and resource efficiency.

In the IGF project 22428 N, from September 2022 onwards innovative, economically and architecturally interesting solutions are to be developed for the novel hybrid components made from standard steel profiles and high-performance wooden cross-sections for ceiling girders.

Three institutes from the Technische Universität Braunschweig participate in solving the research tasks: Institute of Building Materials, Concrete Construction and Fire Safety - Specialist Area Fire Protection, Institute of Steel Construction, and Institute of Building Construction and Timber Structures.