{"id":387,"date":"2017-07-04T10:38:24","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T10:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/?p=387"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:20:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:20:42","slug":"fire-testing-pe-why-pe-cladding-is-a-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/fire-testing-pe-why-pe-cladding-is-a-bad-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire Testing PE \u2013 Why PE Cladding is a Bad Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fire testing PE cladding has suddenly become a \u2018buzz word\u2019 following the\u00a0tragedy at Grenfell<\/a>. \u00a0If there is one material that we come across more often in our modern society this is Polyethylene (PE).<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PE is literally the most common plastic in the world and the largest polymer produced globally. Cosmetic bottles, children toys, food packaging, agricultural jerricans, protective hats, insulation materials even bullet-proof vests are PE based. PE is a semi-crystalline polymer and belongs to the family of polyolefins, consisting mainly of ethylene monomers (two carbons and 4 hydrogen) in various molecular weights and architectures.<\/p>\n

The main reason why PE is very popular lies on its exceptional material properties combined with low cost production. PE yields very good ductility, impact strength, it is a very good electrical insulator and shows excellent chemical and water resistant properties.<\/p>\n

But, PE has one main drawback, this is its performance under high temperatures and\/or fire.<\/p>\n

PE burns when placed under a source of flame giving off a paraffin odour. \u00a0What is really important is that after removing the flame source, PE would sustain the flame and keep burning. \u00a0In fact, in order to understand better the burning properties of PE, think about the candles and how they slowly burn. \u00a0Candles are actually made of low molecular weight PE!<\/p>\n

As the PE chain burns, in presence of oxygen, it passes easily up the chain, from one Carbon (C) atom to the other carbon. \u00a0This means the fire can spread quickly with little to stop it. \u00a0Fire testing PE panels, such as this short youtube video, shows why the use of PE in cladding is dangerous. \u00a0Fire testing PE is therefore very important for any designer or architect who is thinking of using the material in their designs.<\/p>\n

As a result, it becomes obvious that PE should not be used in large quantities in applications where fire might be an issue, such as in construction or house decoration. \u00a0Although it cannot initiate fire, it could very well act as fuel for fire.<\/p>\n

One way of preventing the spread of fire in plastic is to use flame retardants. \u00a0These come in different shapes and forms, but a popular way is to use fluropolymers such as PVDF. \u00a0In these polymers a Hydrogen (H) atom is replaced by a Florine (F) atom. \u00a0As the plastic burns, the reaction with the florine pushes away the oxygen, which in turn kills the flame.<\/p>\n

It is the opinion of Impact that the use of PE in any building\/construction product which requires flame retardancy is wrong.<\/p>\n

Recent material developments have resulted in the productions of two phase composite materials based in Plastics such as PE and minerals. These new materials have showed promising results in fire tests and could be used in construction industries in profiles, doors, panels, insulation and cladding.<\/p>\n

For more information on how PE acts in fire, or to test any of your products for fire safety then please get in touch with the Impact Solutions team on 01324 489 182, on\u00a0email<\/a>, or via the\u00a0contact page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Impact Solutions<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fire testing PE cladding has suddenly become a \u2018buzz word\u2019 following the\u00a0tragedy at Grenfell. \u00a0If there is one material that we come across more often in our modern society this is Polyethylene (PE).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101012,"featured_media":388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[177,178,179,180,181,57,182,10,183],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plastikcity-blogs","tag-cladding","tag-fire-testing","tag-grenfell","tag-pe","tag-pe-cladding","tag-plastic","tag-polyethylene","tag-polymer","tag-polyolefins","post-preview"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3080,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions\/3080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}