Intumescent materials expand significantly when exposed to heat, typically activating at 120 to 200 degrees Celsius depending on the product. This expansion closes gaps, crushes burning pipes and seals penetrations when a fire reaches the compartment line.
In fire compartmentation, intumescent materials serve several distinct functions. Fire door strips expand on heating to seal the gap between door and frame. Pipe fire sleeves, collars and wraps rely on intumescent linings to close the bore of a plastic pipe as it melts. Open state cavity barriers, including Tenmat’s VFB range, contain intumescent layers that expand to seal the ventilated cavity automatically in a fire.
Intumescent sealants are used around the annular gaps of metal pipe and cable penetrations, in expansion joints and at compartment wall junctions where movement must be accommodated.
All intumescent products must be tested in the specific configuration they will be used in. Substituting one intumescent product for another in an existing tested assembly invalidates the test evidence. The intumescent materials range on tenmat.com covers the most common penetration and barrier applications with traceable test certificates.