Fire performance of cold formed steel stud walls lined with calcium silicate boards
Cold formed Light gauge Steel Frame (LSF) wall systems are commonly used in commercial, residential and industrial buildings. This is due to their cost effectiveness, sustainability, quality and resistance to external elements such as termites and pests and high fire resistance. Conventional LSF wall systems are made of cold formed steel studs and lined with gypsum plasterboards. When LSF walls are exposed to fire, the thermo mechanical properties of cold formed steel studs deteriorate at elevated temperatures, which may cause premature wall failure. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the thin walled steel studs from direct fire exposure as well as to delay the temperature rise. LSF wall fire performance is mainly dependent on the type and configuration of wall board lining, which delays the heat transfer through the wall and prevent the steel studs from heating up. Recently, Calcium silicate board has been used in LSF wall systems because of its improved physical and thermal properties while being lightweight, cost effective, impact and moisture resistant. However, their fire performance has not been fully investigated. Hence an experimental study was conducted using calcium silicate boards. Two full scale fire tests were conducted, one with single layer calcium silicate boards and another with a combination of calcium silicate boards and gypsum plasterboards. This paper presents the details of this experimental study on LSF walls and the results of failure times and temperatures across and along the wall panels. Effects of using calcium silicate boards are discussed by comparing the fire test results with those from previously conducted LSF wall fire tests for gypsum plasterboards.