Fire Behaviour and Thermal Characterisation of Different Types of Non-combustible Cladding Panels Used in High-Rise Buildings

Abstract Fire incidents have been occurring significantly in high-rise buildings, and the rapid-fire spread is a critical issue due to the burning of combustible cladding panels. Different types of non-combustible cladding panels are suggested instead of combustible cladding panels to avoid this issue. However, the fire behaviour of all non-combustible cladding panels is different and is not even well understood. In this research study, four types of non-combustible cladding panels have been tested. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the fire behaviour of widely used four types of non-combustible cladding panels on a small-scale test. In this experiment, all cladding panel specimens were tested with a Butane Torch at approximately 1000 °C, and their thermal characteristics were subsequently analysed using thermogravimetric analysis. The test results indicate that the melting, ignition, and delamination were the key issues, although these cladding panels are well known as non-combustible cladding panels.