Principal Investigators: Prof Aravind Dasani (Assistant Chair (Students), School of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE), NTU)
Team: Zope Indraneel Suhas (Research Fellow, MSE, NTU), Ng Kok Wee (Project Officer, Centre for Micro-/Nano-electronics (NOVITAS), NTU), Siow Jun Yang Jonathan (Project Officer, NTU-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation Centre), Seah Geng Jie Dean (Project Officer, NTU-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation Centre)
Mentor: Lim Song Joo (Director, BWG Counsulting Pte Ltd)
TerraCore Class 0 burns no more!
With increasing focus on construction productivity, aesthetics and design freedom for architects, usage of composite panels (mainly aluminium composite panels, ACPs) in the building and construction sector is high. ACP market is projected to grow from US$5.95 Billion in 2016 to US$8.79 Billion by 2022. However, in the recent past, frequent reports of fire incidents associated with ACPs have plagued the industry worldwide. Our product with superior fire retardancy serves as a replacement to the core panel in ACPs. Raw materials used are of low cost and some of them fall under green materials’ label. ACP prototype made using our material as the core, when exposed to high temperatures (in the form of radiation or direct open flames) absorbs a certain amount of energy while initiating a chemical reaction within the core. This leads to a rigid and non-combustible core. Indicative tests carried out at third party accreditation lab show complete compliance with fire code regulations.