Thermal Properties of Alkali Activated Slag Plaster for Wooden Structures

Currently, the production of green building materials grows up. Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) based plaster have better fire resistance properties compared to Portland cement-based concrete and plasters. Compared to Portland cement-based systems AAMs retain a significant level of structural stability after exposure to fire events. AAM based concrete doesn’t have at all or has an insignificant amount of calcium hydroxide in the binder structure which exposed to high-temperature changes to calcium oxide. This weakens Portland cement structural properties and allows cracks to appear under high-temperature conditions. This study shows that AAM based plaster that consisted of alkali-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (slag) with the addition of Phosphogypsum (PG), sand and polypropylene fibre filling exposed to 1000 °C temperature shows up to 2% longitudinal dimension shrinkage. After exposure of elevated temperature these fibers melted leaving a network of channels that allow water vapour vaporize and inner pressure in the material decreased. The start of the wood surface charring process t(ch) is 10 minutes after the start of heating. Using an AAM binder as fire-resistant plaster coating on a wooden structure delays the start of the char layer forming on the wood surface. This allows using AAMs base plaster for fire-resistant coatings on combustible materials as the barrier layer in order to increase the passive safety of wooden structures in heritage buildings.