Cemex develops fire-resistant and explosion-proof concrete
Cemex Mexico announced today that its developed a fire- and explosion-resistant concrete designed specifically at first to safeguard data processing centre, Proyecto Q, of the Santander Group, in Querataro, Mexico.
Located only 20m away from a petrol station, the centre was vulnerable to the effects of potential thermal radiation (fire) and overpressure (explosion). The Santander Group turned to Cemex for the design and construction of a perimeter wall capable of withstanding both scenarios. The result developed for the Santander Group is a 204m-long and 1.10m-thick perimeter barrier with a maximum height of 10.30m. The design is comprised of two 50- and 20cm thick walls, separated by a 40cm wide air chamber.
Cemex Mexico supplied 3000m3 of a high-strength structural concrete with special raw materials that increase its fire resistance. Additionally, its durable and curable auto-compacting specifications facilitate the ecological and economic viability of the project.
Through its Cement and Ready Mix Technology Center, Cemex was able to provide us with the perfect solution for this significant challenge, said David Romero, real estate director in Queretaro for the Santander Group in Mexico.
To certify Cemex's specialty concrete for the project, a full-scale prototype of the wall was built at the Efectis and TNO research centres in The Netherlands. The wall was subjected to physical fire tests, withstanding a temperature of 1150˚C for more than 60mins, and to impact tests of a direct overpressure wave of 1.1bars for 80ms.
