1 G.K. Castle, Fire protection of structural steel, Loss Prev. 8 (1974) 57–64Three parameters are needed to define the intensity of a fire: the gas temperature, T//f, the radiant heat flux, q//r, and the convective heat flux, q//c. Without knowledge of all three of these parameters, there is no way to determine the intensity of a fire or fire test and no possibility of making comparisons between material performance in one fire vs. another. The lack of understanding and knowledge of fire environments has led to much confusion in the comparison of material performance figures in various fire tests and unconsciously misleading claims as to the fire protective ability of materials. The author’s objective is to try to clarify the situation and provide guidelines for the proper evaluation of fire test environments and the performance of various materials in them.2Mostashari SM, BAIE S. Thermo-gravimetric investigation on the flameretardancy of lithium bromide added to cotton fabric. Cellul Chem Technol 2009;43 (4e6): 193e7.Polyester (P), cotton (C) and Polyester-Cotton (PC) blended fabrics were treated with 350gpl of phosphorous containing flame retardant (FR) chemical. Oxidative thermal degradation of these fabrics before and after the treatment was studied using Thermogravimerty (TG) – Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). From TG output, quantitative mass loss of samples was calculated at definite temperature interval. Mass loss profile of control fabrics were compared with that after treatment. Form DTA data, activation energy of fabrics during decomposition was calculated using Broido’s, Coats-Redfern as well as Horowitz-Metzger methods. There is complete change in degradation profile of all fabrics after treatment. The onset temperature of treated fabrics was advanced by 55°C, 75°C and 115°C for polyester, cotton and PC respectively. In final stage of mass loss, treated samples exhibited a pair of closely spaced and broad exotherm. The exothermic peak appeared at 100°C lower temperature in treated samples. Presence of an endotherm in the initial stages (near 180°C) of thermal degradation and decrease in exotherm during the final decomposition of treated fabric was noted. Activation energy treated samples was less compared to that of control samples. Drop in activation energy was observed in all method of calculation. 3 S. Duquesne, S. Magnet, C. Jama, R. Delobel, Intumescent paints: fire protective coatings for metallic substrates, Surf. Coat. Technol. 180–181 (2004) 302–307.This study investigates the role of the binder in an intumescent paint. In fact, it is generally known that acid source, carbon source and blowing agent are the main ingredients of such a paint. However, since the binder may react with these ingredients, it is also a very important component of an intumescent paint. To begin with, the effect of the nature of the monomers composing the polymeric binder, on the chemical reactivity between the binder and the intumescent additives is investigated using thermogravimetric analysis, solid state NMR and FTIR analysis. It is found that the thermal stability increases when the copolymer is based on substituted styrene. Subsequently, the efficiency of protective behaviour of the intumescent coatings is evaluated varying the nature of the binder resin. It is found that the thermal insulation is greatly improved when using a mixture of a linear copolymer presenting a good reactivity with the acid source and a cross-linked copolymer as binder in the intumescent paint.4 B. Gardelle, S. Duquesne, V. Rerat, S. Bourbigot, Thermal degradation and fire performance of intumescent silicone-based coatings, Polym. Adv. Technol. 24 (2013) 62–69.This paper deals with the thermal degradation and fire performance of silicone-based coatings for protecting steel. In this study, the fire performance of silicone coatings as virgin or formulated materials is evaluated using two homemade fire testing methodologies: one similar to the “torch test” fire testing method and the other using a heat radiator test. It was shown that the performance of the silicone-based coating used as thermal barrier can be improved incorporating a modifier (a mixture of polydimethylsiloxane and silica coated by a silane). In this case, silicone-based coating swells and exhibits same fire performance as commercial intumescent coating at the torch test. It is shown that the incorporation of modifier in the silicone makes it to swell upon heating resulting in the formation of expanded material exhibiting low heat conductivity. Thermal degradation of the coating is also investigated: it occurs in three main steps leading to the formation of a tridimensional network characterized by the formation of Q4 structure at high temperature.