ACM panel cladding materials have become popular in the construction industry over the past decades. Many designers prefer to utilize them in their designs due to their various advantages and modern, sleek appearance. The term cladding refers to the components that builders attach to the primary structure of construction to form an external and non-structural surface. The claddings are as opposed to facilities in which the outer section has structural element formation.
Aluminum Composite Materials (ACM) are often used in the form of Rainscreen products. A Rainscreen, also known as drained and ventilated, or pressure equalized cladding material, is part of a double-wall structure. These products prevent a significant amount of water from infiltrating into the walls of a building. The second inner section of the border provides thermal insulation, structural stability, and airtightness.
ACM panel cladding features two layers of aluminum attached to either section of lightweight core materials, including profiled metal, mineral core, or polyethylene. Due to their precise flatness, they are popular products, a wide array of color and surface finishes, lightweight, and fabricability. However, the fast pace development of the economic world brought significant challenges for the fire-protection standards in ACM panels.
For ensuring the safety of a facility, it is essential to take necessary fire prevention measures to provide specific fire resistance characteristics, and even in case of a fire occurring, it will not cause too much disturbance and issues. For making practical fire prevention measures, it is essential to choose sufficient inflammable construction materials before starting the building process. Regarding the most common cladding materials, it is good to know about the fire performance of the Aluminum Composite Panels.
Fire Protection Performance of ACM Panel
The national standard of GB8624-97 divides the ACM fire protection and the combustion performance of the construction materials into the following classes:
A2 Class: The first class of fire protection performance is the A2 for non-combustible construction materials that can hardly burn.
B1 Grade: The B1 grade is for fire retardant building materials with good flame- and fire-retardant effects. When the material confronts an open fire in the air or is challenging to catch fire under high temperature, the fire will not spread quickly. The combustion will stop as soon as possible after removing the fire source.
B2 Class: The third fire-resistant performance class is B2 for combustible materials. These materials have a particular fire-retardant effect. When exposed to a fire in the air or under high temperature, it will burn and ignite and lead to the spread of fire similar to wooden columns, wooden beams, wooden stairs, and wooden trusses.
B3 Grade: The B3 class is the most inefficient building material for fire protection purposes. They are flammable materials with no fire-retardant effect. Thus, they are considered volatile and dangerous to fire, leading them to the worst choice for the building claddings.
Fire Protection Rating of A2 and B1 Fire Retardant ACM Panels
The fire protection of other types of aluminum composite boards is divided into the above classes. The standard ACM panel cannot be lower than the B1 classes. For instance, not all plastics aluminum composite panels can have fireproof characteristics, and the specific performance is classified according to the non-combustibility rating. The B3 grade products have a designation to be a flammable raw material, and the B2 grade is a combustible construction material. Thus, if the building owner wants to choose the fire-retardant material, it is essential to pay attention to the products’ fire rating property.
B1 ACM Fire Protection Rating: The price of aluminum composite panels that manufacturers provide for the market is different. The manufacturing process and the core materials affect the cost, but the functions of the products play a crucial role in their prices. The higher fire-rated grade materials are more expensive than other classes. The common fireproof panel grade is B1 and this class of aluminum composite panel is not flammable, and it can meet the requirements of all occasions.
A2 ACM Fire Protection Rating: The class A aluminum composite panels, are superior due to their non-combustible characteristics. The safety performance of the before-mentioned aluminum panels is relatively high. Builders and contractors recommend using this type of ACM to make the construction and the home environment more secure and guaranteed. However, the high fire protection rate of the A2 class makes it the best choice available in the market.
In final words, fireproof construction materials and claddings have a dispensable effect on living environments and commercial buildings. For making the facility safer and more standard, it is recommended to purchase qualified and best fireproof aluminum composite panels from trustworthy and reliable manufacturers. For installing these essential products, it is better to contact the best contractors and build service companies to achieve the best result and prevent potential damages.
