SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF EXPANDABLE GRAPHITE BASED INTUMESCENT FIRE RETARDANT COATING FOR STEEL STRUCTURES

Structural steel is an integral part of any construction such as bridges, buildings, ships,cars and off shore structures. The integrity of structural steel has pivotal role in safety of structures and human. In the case of fire, the steel starts losing its load bearing ability above 500°C and in the case of fire, the temperature of unprotected steel rises to 800°C within 10 minutes. Intumescent fire retarding coatings are designed to
insulate the structural steel under the action of heat, flames or fire thus protecting their integrity.
The main objectives of this research project are to synthesis and characterization of an expandable graphite (EG) based intumescent coating formulation (ICF). An
intumescent coating with considerable char expansion and flaky morphology can provide good heat shielding to the steel structures.