FireLite – Stability in Fire

FireLite’s key characteristic for use as a fire-resistant glazing is its exceptional resistance to thermal stress, combined with high temperature stability. That effectively makes FireLite immune to the various thermal stress conditions that can so easily occur in fires, when fire temperatures can rise to 800°C or even higher.

FireLite’s stability in fire comes from an engineered thermal expansion coefficient which is slightly negative and close to zero – which means that critical thermal stresses arising from restrained expansion within the glassy body itself cannot fundamentally arise to any significant extent in FireLite. As a result FireLite remains stable, in one piece, without cracking.

For example:

  • Resistance against stresses from non-uniform heating and uneven temperature over the surface of a glass pane.
  • Resilience to severe thermal shock from sudden large increases in temperature (for example on flashover), which includes repeated exposure.
  • Ability to survive sudden cooling when quenched by cold water, for example, from sprinklers or firefighter hose streams (both stream impact and water splash).

Linear Coefficient of Thermal Expansion x 10-6Young’s Modulus
Pa x 1010		Thermal Conductivity
W/(mK)
FireLite- 0.59.01.5
For comparison:
Float glass 
(soda-lime-silica)+ 9.06.0 to 7.01.0
Borosilicate+ 3.37.01.0