Fire reliability of system aluminum-glass partitions

Abstract

Aluminum-glass partition systems are used as building facades but also as glazed internal walls designated to form various internal partitions with glass doors. These partitions are designated to create fire compartments as well as separate and soundproof the zones created, without visually limiting the built up area. System fireproof partitions manufactured in fire resistance classes EI 30 to EI 180 constitute an important product in the offer of domestic and foreign manufacturers in terms of fire safety. The internal and external fireproof partitions are generally designed conformant to deterministic criteria, i.e. the structure of the partition is determined by the formal requirements listed in the legal regulations pertaining to basic requirements which should be satisfied by buildings and their parts. The fireproofing qualities of system aluminum-glass partitions are controlled in laboratories and documented in technical approvals. Partitions designed according to the deterministic criteria may be verified by the fire reliability analysis of the designed structure using the known simple and complex models of the reliability theory. In this paper the reliability formulae for simple and mixed mathematical models of non-renewable objects, which have been applied to model the fire reliability of partitions made by Aluprof, a domestic maker of aluminum-glass systems, under catalog numbers MB-78EI and MB-118EI, have been juxtaposed. The results of calculations allowed for preparing design recommendations, verifying the deterministic criteria for design of fire resistant partitions. In particular the fire reliability analysis prompts for abandoning the design of expensive aluminum-glass partitions made of multi-layered glass having multiple fire resistant layers.