Age testing confirms working life of 60 years for Tenmat’s cavity fire barriers

The results of independent, accredited third-party testing show that all grades of active intumescent components used in Tenmat cavity fire barriers have a working life of 60 years. 

This is an especially significant achievement when compared with other products on the market, which typically provide a working life of just 10-25 years. Tenmat’s cavity barriers also hold third party IFC certification for fire resistance performance.

Global Product Manager for Tenmat, Chris Thompson, said of the results:

“Having been manufactured for many decades, our unique intumescent has a long-standing history of use. This means there are multiple instances in which the intumescent has been naturally age tested – enabling us to assess its performance over extended time periods.

“But we’ve gone further to more rigorously evaluate the intumescent’s ability to withstand ageing. We have engaged in third party testing and assessment, including accelerated age testing and durability testing, in which the product undergoes a combination of lab-based age testing and prolonged environmental exposure. In each range of tests, the fire performance of the intumescent remained unaffected – allowing a working life of 60 years to be confirmed.”  

Tenmat’s intumescent uses expandable graphite which rapidly expands when exposed to heat from a fire. Unlike other intumescents on the market, Tenmat combines the expandable graphite with a high level of inorganic content such as rock mineral fibres and only a small proportion of organic binder. In normal conditions, this high proportion of inorganic materials results in intumescents resistant to environmental exposure and ageing. In a fire situation the graphite forces the fibres apart which then form a matrix structure to create a stable and insulative char that limits fire spread.

Explore Tenmat’s range of fire barriers here: Ventilated Cavity Fire Barriers - Tenmat

Pictures of Tenmat’s cavity fire barriers