A review on fire-resistant glass with high rating

Architectural features with glass panels are commonly featured in large-scale construction projects. Exterior glass panels have been installed in many new symbolic buildings in cities all over the world, particularly in the Far East including Hong Kong, Singapore, big cities in mainland China, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia. Fire hazard of glass façade of such buildings is a great concern. Conventional glass materials are weak spots in building fires, and fire-resistant glass has been developed and installed. Apart from assessing fire resistance of glass panels by standard tests, there are no universal or state standards in fire-resistant glass specifications. It should be noted that a glass façade system is comprised of framework, glass, and other accessories. A brief review of fire-resistant glass is presented in this article. In standard fire resistance tests, the most relevant performance criteria of fire-resistant glass are integrity, insulation, and radiation. But in literature, fire-resistant glass can be divided into two categories: non-insulating and insulating. The chemical compositions of the glass products, which depend on the manufacturing method and the required fire resistance standards, are not listed in architectural specifications. This is common for products manufactured in the Far East. This article provides an overview of the common types of fire-resistant glass, especially the ones with high ratings, the tests and standards used to assess these products. Two samples of insulating glass available in the local market are selected. Their thermal behaviors while exposed to a heat flux of 70 kWm^-2 are studied.