Loadbearing versus non‐loadbearing fire walls

In the last decades plenty of fire tests with wall constructions consisting of reinforced AAC elements were executed. Many of the test results have been transferred to European and national technical regulations. Also, theoretical methods to design reinforced AAC elements for fire impact are available. These provide temperature curves for the commonly used dry densities and procedures to calculate and rate the influence of fire stress on the functional capacity of the wall systems.

In the last years additional fire tests took place to show the fulfilment of special requirements for buildings with high demands regarding fire safety. For example, tests with six hours of firing were performed which is highly above the definitions and solutions given in standards.

Xella's R&D Center meanwhile has its own test stand to execute suitability checks for fire walls and is accredited for performing these tests.

In the last years the question about how to rate the performance of fire walls on basis of test results came up, especially regarding load bearing walls. This is the result of different definitions in the relevant national and European standards. Possible approaches for solving this topic shall be presented at the AAC conference.