Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) is typically used to reinforce the tension zone of glulam, but little was known, until recently, on its fire performance in glulam. I provided the results of fire tests performed on FRP reinforced glulam in a presentation at the 9th World Conference on Timber Engineering in August. A brief summary is below. Look for the last APA conference presentation to be posted on the Blog soon.

While unprotected steel members typically buckle and twist when exposed to high temperatures, glulam performs very well in the intense heat of fire due to the development of an insulating char layer. But studies were needed to determine the effect of fire on FRP that is used to reinforce the tension zone of glulam to significantly increase its strength. FRP is introduced in glulam by providing a thin layer of “plastic” reinforcement that is barely discernible and is adaptable to the glulam manufacturing process. While fire-rated, unreinforced glulam is accepted under U.S. codes, no similar data was available for FRP reinforced beams. This study demonstrated that one-hour fire rating of reinforced beams could be achieved.

Download the presentation, Fire Performance of FRP Reinforced Glulam, to read more on the benefits of FRP and to find out how it faired in fire tests. Read more about the 2006 World Conference on Timber Engineering.