UNIT-1

MATERIALS AND METHODS FOR FIRE-PROOFING,

THERMAL AND ACOUSTIC INSULATION OF SPACES
1. THERMAL INSULATION
When there is difference in temperature of inside of a building and outside
atmosphere, heat transfer will take place from areas of higher temperature
to lower temperature.

The primary purpose of thermal insulation is

to control the flow or transfer of heat through
exterior assemblies of a building and thereby
prevent excessive heat loss in cold seasons and
heat gain in hot weather.

The term thermal insulation is used to indicate the construction or provisions

by way of which transmissions of heat from or in the room is reduced.

ADANTAGES OF THERMAL INSULATION

• COMFORT-Thermal insulation keeps the room cool in summer and hot in winter.
• FUEL SAVING- since heat transfer is minimised due to thermal insulation, less
fuel is required to maintain desired temperature in the room.
• PREVENTION OF CONDENSATION -use of thermal insulating materials inside a
room results in prevention of moisture deposition on interior walls and ceilings.
Characteristics of a good insulation material:
• Fireproof
• Insect proof
• Moisture proof
• Resistant to any physical change that would reduce its effectiveness
against heat flow

Selection of insulation is based on:

• Initial cost
• Effectiveness
• Durability
• Adaptation of its form to that of the construction and installation
methods
 THERMAL INSULATİNG MATERIALS

Thermal insulating materials may be in following forms:-

1. Slab or block insulation

2. Blankets insulation
3. Loose fill insulation
4. Bat insulating materials
5. Structural Insulation board
6. Reflective insulation
7. Sprayed-on
8. Foamed-in place
 SLAB INSULATİON
• Slab or block insulation is made in rigid units,2.5 cm thick and 60x120
cm or more in area, through some of them may be made from two or
more pieces of insulation board cemented together to make a thick
slab.
• It is made also from cork, shredded wood, and cement, mineral wool
with binder, cellular glass, foamed concrete, foamed plastic, cellular
hard rubber, saw dust, asbestos cement etc.

• These are fixed to walls, slabs or roofs.

 BLANKET INSULATION
• These are flexible fibrous rolls made from mineral wool, processed wood fibres,
cotton, animal hair, etc. available in thickness of 12 to 80mm.
• These are directly spread on the wall or ceiling surfaces.
• Some installed with vinyl cardboard or wire mesh and is stapled to sides and edges
of studs and joists.
• Mats are made in various thickness and cut in a variety of widths, sometimes with
a paper cover.
 BATT INSULATION
• Similar to blanket insulations except that these are small in size but of greater
thickness. These are also spread on surface of walls and ceiling. Because
professionals can install the product relatively quickly, it is one of the least
expensive ways to insulate your home.
• Available in pre-cut panels, batt insulation is very flexible, which means that it can
be installed between studs, rafters and joists blocks without leaving any gaps. The
snug fit will help stop airflow and the transfer of heat. When installed correctly, it
is very energy efficient.
• Studies have shown batt insulation can reduce the amount of energy required
to heat and cool a home by as much as 50 percent.
• Along with lower energy bills, your home will be more comfortable year round.
• Batt insulation also maintains its effectiveness because it does not settle over
time. It is available with and without the facing that acts as a vapor and air
barrier for use in different applications.
 LOOSE FILL INSULATION
• They may consist of fibrous materials like rock wool, slag wool, cellulose or
wood fibre wool, etc. filled loosely in the studding space.

• Usually it is bulky and can be divided into two main types;

– Fibrous
– Granular

• Fibrous type is made from mineral wool, rock, glass or slag wool, or
vegetable fiber – usually wood fiber.
• Granular insulations are made from expanded minerals such as perlite
and vermicullite or from ground vegetable matter such as granulated
cork.
 SPRAYED-ON INSULATİON
• Produced by mixing some
fibrous or cellular
material with an
adhesive and blowing the
mixture on to the surface
to be insulated.
• Areas that are difficult to
be insulated are treated
in this manner (shape,
location, etc.).
• It can provide
homeowners with an
airtight and gap-free
barrier, one that not only
resists moisture but also
adheres to all types of
surfaces.
• It performs exactly as intended and can help lower the homeowner’s utility costs
because it is so effective in its insulating capabilities.
• Once the material is dry, it can provide homeowners with impressive thermal
protection, sometimes even strengthening the space between walls and floorboards
as well.
• This type of insulation is usually applied to ceilings, floors, attics, walls and
basements.
• It can reduce all types of infiltration, including air, moisture and allergen. Because of
how water-resistant this material is, it does not develop mold easily, and its rigid shape
makes sure that it will stay inside of the walls as installed.
 FOAMED-İN PLACE INSULATİON
• Made from synthetic liquid resins,
isocyanate and polyol resin, which react
when mixed with each other and expand
up to 30-60 times its liquid volume after it
is sprayed in place.

• A two component mixture comes together

at the tip of a gun, and forms an expanding
foam that is sprayed onto concrete slabs,
into wall cavities of an unfinished wall,
against the interior side of sheathing, or
through holes drilled in sheathing or
drywall into the wall cavity of a finished
wall.
• This expansion makes it useful as a
specialty packing material which forms to
the shape of the product being packaged
and produces a high thermal insulating
value with virtually no air infiltration.
 INSULATING BOARD
• Structural insulated panels( SIP) ,also called stressed-skin walls used for interior
lining of walls and also for partition walls, available in different sizes and thickness.
• These are manufactured by first making pulp of wood,cane or other materials
and then pressing them in front of boards by adding suitable adhesives.
• It is used for exterior or interior sheating, insulating roof decking, roof insulating
board, and interior finishing board
 REFLECTİVE INSULATİON
• An insulating material used to retard the flow of heat by reflecting heat radiation
Reflective insulations may consist of gypsum boards,steel sheet reflective
materials,aluminium,foilsetc.

• They are composed of metallic or other special surfaces with or without some type
of backing.
• Unlike others, reflective insulations rely on their surface characteristics, thickness
of air space, temperature differences etc. for their insulating value.
• have high reflectivity and low emissivity, thus offering high heat resistance. It
consist of gypsum boards, steel sheet, aluminium foils, etc
2. ACOUSTİCS AND SOUND
INSULATION
• Acoustics is the science of sound, which deals with origin, propagation and
auditory sensation of sound and also with the design of different building units
to set optimum conditions for producing and listening speech, music etc.
• SOUND IS TRANSMITTED IN THE FORM OF WAVES WHICH ARE A SERIES OF
COMPRESSIONS AND REVERBERATONS CREATED IN THE MEDIUM THROUGH
WHICH IT TRAVELLS.
BEHAVIOUR OF SOUND IN
ENCLOSURES:
1) some of the sound is reflected back
in the room
2) some of the sound energy is
absorbed by the surface and listeners

3) some of the sound waves set on the

walls , floors and ceiling vibrating and
are thus transmitted outside the room.

The amount of sound wave reflection

or absorption depends upon the
surface while the sound transmition
depends upon sound insulation
properties of surface.
• The behaviour of reflected sound plays very important role in the acoustical
design of an enclosed space. The following are two main defects that may be
caused due to reflection of sound waves.
• A) ECHOES
• Echo is produced when the reflected sound wave reaches the ear just when the
original sound from the same source has been already heard. Thus there is
repetition of the sound.
• B) Reverberation
• It has been generally noticed that in public halls and auditoriums the sound
persists even after the source of sound has ceased. This persistence of sound is
called reverberation. It is due to multiple reflections in enclosed space.
• A certain amount of reverberation is desirable .
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE SOUND INSULATIONS

The effective sound reduction is achieved through the

combination of sound absorbing and sound insulation

Sound reduction

Sound absorbing Sound insulation

 SOUND ABSORPTION :
When a sound wave strikes a surface , a part of its energy is absorbed by
friction. The sound generated in an auditorium or hall is absorbed in four
ways
1) In the air
2) By the audience
3) In furniture and finishing and at boundary surfaces such as floors,
ceilings, walls etc.
4)SPECIAL MATERIALS USED ON BOUNDARY SURFACES TO INCREASES
ABSORPTION ARE KNOWN AS ABSORBANT.

SOUND ABSORBANTS
The special materials used on the boundary surfaces to
increase absorption are known as absorbants. CEILING is
generally more exposed to direct sound waves than any other
surfaces, and is usually the largest single area available for
treatment.
 PRINCIPLES AND FACTORS IN ACOUSTICAL
DESIGN:
1) SITE SELECTION
2) DIMENSIONS
3) SHAPE
4) SEATS AND SEATING ARRANGEMENT
5) TREATMENT OF INTERIOR SURFACES
6) REVERBERATION AND SOUND ABSORPTION
Sound ray diagram of New National Theatre, Tokyo
Concert halls demand very careful
acoustical analysis
SOUND INSULATION is necessary in order to;

• Improve hearing conditions and reduce unwanted noise in

any given room
• To control the transmission of sound from one room to
another through walls, floors, and ceilings.

Sound insulation techniques are often used in

• Auditoriums/Gymnasiums ,Restaurants ,Broadcast Studios

,Recording Studios, Theaters ,Music Halls
• Office Spaces ,Corporate Boardrooms, Conference Rooms
,Entertainment Facilities
• Residential ,Apartments, Home Offices, Home Recording
Studios Institutional, Museums/Libraries
Sound Insulating Materials :
Sound insulating materials can be broadly classified into
three groups :
1.Non-porous rigid materials
2.Porous rigid materials
3.Non rigid (flexible) porous
materials
Non-porous rigid materials :
The sound insulation of non-porous, homogeneous, rigid
constructions, such as plastered solid brick masonry walls
varies as the logarithms of the weight per unit area.
• Porous rigid materials :
• Porous rigid materials like porous concrete masonry,
cinder concrete, etc. because of their sound absorptive
properties which provide about 10 percent higher
insulation than the non-porous materials of the same
weight.
• In order to secure the best insulation from the porous
materials, it is recommended that porous partitions
should be plastered at least on one side and possible on
both sides.
• Non-rigid (Flexible) porous materials :
• These consists of felt, mineral wool, and quilt etc. They
by themselves provide low sound insulation as
compared to rigid materials and therefore they are not
generally used for the purpose of noise reduction and
isolation. However, a composite construction employing
a combination of rigid materials and porous absorbers
may adopted where weight is important factor.
SOUND INSULATIONS FOR WALL ( VERTICAL BARRIER)
1) RIGID AND MASSIVE HOMOGENEOUS WALLS
2) PARTITIONS OF POROUS MATERIALS
3) DOUBLE WALL PARTITION
4) CAVITY WALL CONSTRUCTION
PARTITIONS OF POROUS MATERIALS
3) DOUBLE WALL PARTITION
A DOUBLE WALL PARTITION CONSISTS OF PLASTER BOARDS OF FIBRES BOARDS OR
PLASTER ON LATHS ON BOTH THE FACES WITH SOUND ABSORBING BLANKET IN
BETWEEN. STAGGERED WOODEN STUDS ARE PROVIDED AS A SUPPORT. A DOUBLE WALL
CONSTRUCTION IS THUS A PARTITION WALL OF RIGID AND NON RIGID POROUS
MATERIALS.
4) CAVITY WALL CONSTRUCTION

1)Gap between the two leafs of the

wall may be left air filled or else
filled with some resilient material
like quilt etc well suspended in gaps

2) The two faces of the wall may be

fixed with celotex or other
insulating board.
3) Width of cavity should atleast 5
cm
4)The two wall leaves should be
tied by use of only light butterfly
walls.
 FLOORS AND CEILINGS INSULATION:

It acts as horizontal barriers to both airborne as well as structure

borne impact of sounds

1) use of resilient surface material on floors

2) concrete floor floating construction
3)timber floor floating construction
4)timber floor with suspended ceiling and air space
5) skirting
 USE OF RESILIENT SURFACE MATERIAL
ON FLOORS

This consist of providing thin concrete screed as the RCC floor slab
and then providing soft floor finish or covering of resilient material
such as linolium, insulation board, cork, asphalt mastic, carpet etc.
This provision helps to damp the impact noises but has no
appreciable effect on air-borne sound. it can be used for 5-10 dB
sound insulation result.
 3) TIMBER FLOOR FLOATING CONSTRUCTION:

1)in case of floors constructed of wooden joist, the problem of sound insulation
becomes more difficult perticularly in the presence of heavy mechanical
impact sound.
2) in this type of insulation emplying mineral or glass wool quilt for isolation
purposes.
3) resilient mounting may be used to obtain even more satisfactory results.
4) for optimum result can be achieved in such a floor by employing a pugging
or deadening material in the air space between the wood joist
4)either sound absorbent type material like mineral wool or other material like
sand or
5)Ashes may be used the later are more effective because of the fact that the
efficiency of pugging depends on the weight of the material used.
4) TIMBER FLOOR WITH SUSPENDED CEILING
AND AIR SPACE:
4) TIMBER FLOOR WITH SUSPENDED CEILING
AND AIR SPACE:
 CEILINGS
• They are made from wood, cane, or asbestos fibers, matted and bonded into
sheets of various thickness (5-32 mm).

• The sheets are cut into tiles of several sizes. Edges may be square cut, or
tongue-and-grooved.

• These tiles are intended primarily for ceiling applications.

• They can be applied to solid surfaces with adhesives, nailed to strips attached
to a ceiling frame or underside of a solid deck (see Figure 6.5) or installed in a
suspended ceiling frame (see Figure 6.6)
Acoustical tile in suspended ceiling.
• A great variety of designs, colors, and patterns are available.
• The acoustic openings in the surface of the tile in themselves provide many
different designs.
3. FIRE PROTECTION
• No building material is perfectly fire proof.
• Every building contains some materials (such as furniture,
clothing, eatables etc.) which can either easily catch fire or
which are vulnerable to fire.
• However the role of an architect or engineer should be to plan,
design and construct buildings in such a way that safety of
occupants may be ensure to maximum possible extent in the
event of outbreak of fire .
The technical interpretation of fire safety of building is to convey the fire resistance
in terms of hours .

A wider interpretation of fire safety may be deemed to cover the following aspects:
 Fire prevention and reduction of number of outbreaks of fire,
Spread of fire, both internally and externally,
Safe exit of any and all occupants in the event of an out-break of fire, and
 Fire extinguishing apparatus.
PROPERTIES OF FIRE RESISTING MATERIALS
An ideal fire resisting material should possess the
following characteristics:

• The material should not disintegrate under the

effect of great heat.

• The expansion of the material due to heat

should not be such that it leads to instability of
the structure of which it forms a part.

• The contraction of the material due to sudden

cooling with water (during fire extinguishing
process) after it has been heated to a high
temperature should not be rapid.
In relation to fire, building materials can be divided into
two types:
• NON-COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS:
These materials do not contribute to the growth or
spread of fire, but are damaged and decomposed when
high temperatures are reached.
Examples of non- combustible materials are: stones
and bricks, concrete, clay products, metal, glass etc.

• COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS:
Combustible materials are those which, during fire,
combine exothermically with oxygen, resulting in
evolution of lot of heat and giving rise to flame or glow.
Such materials burn and also contribute to the growth
of fire.
Examples of these materials are: wood and wood
products, fibreboard, straw board etc.
FIRE RESISTING PROPERTIES OF
COMMON MATERIALS
STONE
• Stone is a non-combustible building material and also a bad conductor of heat and does
not contribute to the spread of fire.
• It is a bad fire-resisting material since it is liable to disintegrate into small pieces when
heated and suddenly cooled, giving rise to failure of structure.
• Granite, on exposure to severe heat, explodes and disintegrates.
• Sand stone of compact composition (fine grained) can, however, stand the exposure to
moderate fire without serious cracks.
• In general, the use of stone in a fire-resisting construction should be restricted to a
minimum.

BRICKS
• Brick is a poor conductor of heat.
• First class bricks moulded from good clay can stand exposure to fire for a considerable length
of time, upto temperatures of about 1200°C.
• Brick masonry construction, with good mortar and better workmanship, is the most suitable
for safeguarding the structure against fire hazards.

CONCRETE
• Concrete offers a much higher resistance to fire than any other building material.
Reinforced concrete structures can withstand fire lasting for several hours with a
temperature of 1000°C without serious damage.
• The behavior of concrete during exposure to heat varies with the nature of coarse aggregate
and its density, and the quality of cement.
• Aggregates expand on heating while ordinary cement shrinks on heating.
• These two opposite actions may lead to spalling of the concrete surface. Aggregates obtained
from igneous rocks containing higher calcareous content, tend to crack more while the
aggregates like foamed slag, cinder and bricks are better.
STEEL
• Though steel is non-combustible, it has very low fire resistance, since it is a good conductor of heat.
• During fire, it gets heated very soon, its modulus of elasticity reduces and it looses its tensile
strength rapidly.
• Unprotected steel beam sags and unprotected columns or struts buckle, resulting in the collapse of
structures.

GLASS
• Glass is poor conductor of heat, and its thermal expansion is also less.
• When it is heated and then suddenly cooled, cracks are formed.
• These cracks can be minimized if glass is reinforced with steel wire netting.
• Reinforced glass is more fire resistant, and can resist variations in temperature without serious
cracks.
• Rein- forced glass has higher melting point. Even if cracks are formed, the embedded wires hold
the cracked portion in position.
• Commonly used for fire-resisting doors, windows, done skylights, etc.

TIMBER

• Timber is a combustible material.

• It ignites and gets rapidly destroyed during fire, if the section is small.
• If timber is used in thick sections, it possesses the properties of self-insulation and slow burning.
• If the temperatures are higher than 500°C, timber gets dehydrated under continued exposure,
giving rise to combustible volatile gases which readily catch fire.
ALUMINIUM
• It is very good conductor of heat.
• It has very poor fire-resistant properties.
• Its use should be restricted to only those structures which have very fire risks.

CAST-IRON AND WROUGHT IRON

• Cast iron behaves very badly in the event of fire.
• On sudden cooling, it gets contracted and breaks down into pieces or fragments, giving rise to
sudden failure.
• It is rarely used in fire- resistant building unless suitably covered by bricks, concrete etc.
• Wrought iron behaves practically in the same way as mild steel.

PLASTER OR MORTAR
• Plaster is non-combustible. Hence it should be used to protect walls and ceilings against fire risk.
• Cement plaster is better than lime plaster since the latter is likely to be calcined during fire.
• Using it in thick layers or reinforcing it with metal laths can increase the fire-resistance of plaster.
• Gypsum plaster, when used over structural steel members, makes them better fire-resistant.
 FIRE Resistant construction
A) WALL AND COLUMNS:
1)Load bearing walls or columns of masonry should be thicker in section
so that they may successfully act as fire barrier for passage of fire and
heat for a considerable time.
2) If the construction of solid bearing walls, bricks should be preferred to
stones in case of Framed structure RCC FRAMES are preferred to Steel
frames.

3) If the use of steel only is to be made due to specific reasons then it

should be protected by embedding it in concrete or by covering it with
some other fire insulating materials like burnt clay block or terra cotta

4) For Partition wall it should be of fire resistant material such as RCC or

reinforced brickwork or hollow concrete or burn clay tiles, or reinforced
Glass, or asbestos cement board, or Metal lath covered over with cement
plater. For Wooden partition they should be covered with metal lath and
plaster.
5) cavity wall construction also offer good Fire resistance
 FIRE Resistant construction

Fire proofing treatments to steel and concrete columns

 FIRE Resistant construction

Fire proofing treatments to steel and concrete columns

 FIRE Resistant construction

A) Floors and Roofs:

1)The floors and roofs should be made of Fire Resisting material as they act as
horizontal barriers to spread of heat and fire in vertical direction.
For better Fire resistance ,the floor should be either RCC or hollow tiled ribbed floor
or of Concrete Jack arch floors with steel joists embedded in concrete should be used.

2) Flooring of material like concrete, ceramic tiles and bricks is regarded to be most
suitable from the view point of fire resisting qualities. Use of Terrazzo, Marble and
slate as floor surfaces is also quite satisfactory.
 In case of combustible materials like wood, cast –iron, rubber, Linoleum cork, carpet
etc. in flooring becomes unavoidable due to financial or practical considerations
then the following points should be given due consideration:
4a) In case of wooden joist floors, joist at a greater spacing should be used to limit the
deflection within allowable limits in the event of fire.
4b) Fire stops or barriers in wooden floors should be provided at suitable intervals.
5) While using combustible materials ,like cast iron, wrought iron , cork , carpet etc
they should be protected by covering of insulating materials like ceramics tiles, plaster,
Terra-cotta, bricks etc.
6) For fire –resisting of roofs the flat roof construction should be preferred to slopping
roofs or pitched roofs.
 WALL OPENINGS
• From the point of view of fire spread, openings in the walls should be a bare
minimum.
• Openings serve means of escape. Hence these should be properly protected by
suitable arrangements, in case of fire.
• Doors and windows should be made of steel. Fire-resistant doors can be obtained
by fixing steel plates to both the sides of the door.
• Wire-glass panels are preferred for windows.
• Rolling shutter doors should be used for garages, godowns, shops etc.
• In case of timber doors, minimum thickness of door leaf should be 4 cm. and that
of door frame as 8 to 10 cm.
• All escape doors should be such as to provide free circulation to the persons in
passages, lobbies, corridors, stairs etc., and should be made of fire proofing
material.
STRONG ROOM CONSTRUCTION
• A strong room construction is found to be useful in case of safe deposit vaults in
banks, Following are the important features of construction:
• The walls, doors and ceilings of a strong room are made of atleast 30 cm thick
cement concrete. If thin R.C.C. walls are used, they should have a covering of
bricks or terra cotta and then suitably plastered with fire-resistant plaster .
• Doors and windows are well anchored to concrete walls by large number of steel
holdfasts longer in length.
• Doors and windows should be fireproof. It is preferable to have double fireproof
door.
• Windows and ventilators should be covered by special grills made of 20 mm steel
square bars. These grills should be well fixed to concrete walls by means of long
steel holdfasts.