Comportamento ao fogo de soluções de fachada de edifícios industriais sujeitos a incêndios internos e externos

Abstract

Industrial buildings are highly susceptible to fires due to the presence of high fire loads, storage of combustible materials, and their frequent location near forested areas. In particular, climate change alters ambient temperatures and rainfall patterns, increasing the occurrence of wildfires, making it crucial to study the performance of facade systems under such conditions. This study aims to investigate the thermal and mechanical behavior of industrial building facade systems. Two fire scenarios are analyzed: (1) fires originating inside the building, considering the influence of fire load, openings, and ignition source; and (2) wildland-urban interface fires, analyzing wind speed, terrain slope, and vegetation. The methodology was based on numerical simulations using FDS (Fire Dynamics Simulator) software for fire propagation modeling and Abaqus for heat transfer and mechanical analysis. This approach enabled a comprehensive evaluation combining CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and Finite Element simulations to assess the performance of sandwich panel facades with PIR (polyisocyanurate) and mineral wool cores. The results indicate that the introduction of new openings had a significant influence on the internal temperatures of the building, leading to increases of up to 513%. In the wildfire scenario, the fire load increase was critical to the building, rising the heat release rate by up to 109.47% and temperatures by up to 59.27%. The combined effect of wind presence and terrain slope also emerged as a critical factor, significantly intensifying fire severity. Among the analyzed materials, mineral wool exhibited superior thermal performance, providing better insulation under high temperatures. Regarding the mechanical behavior, the connections were severely impacted by the heat in both the exposure scenarios evaluated. The findings contribute to understanding fire dynamics in industrial buildings and the key variables that influence the development of more severe events. Additionally, they highlight the need to study fire-resistant facade solutions, particularly for buildings located in wildland-urban interface areas, to ensure structural safety.