• 3
• 10

UAE-based Metal Plast Industries, a fully-owned subsidiary of the diversified multinational business conglomerate Mulk Holdings International, said it has successfully developed A1 grade fire-rated core and a proprietary bonding system for aluminium composite panels (ACP) exclusively for Alubond, in a bid to reduce the spread of fire in high-rise buildings.

Alubond is the world’s largest ACP and MCM brand with over 25 million sq m of manufacturing and processing capacity with facilities in Europe, UAE, Turkey, Oman and India. The newest addition – the A1 core – is a further proof of excellence and innovation, said Mulk Holdings in a statement.

A technology breakthrough, the development of the core is considered a game-changer in the fire rating standards of exterior facades and makes Alubond A1 the world’s safest and highest fire-rated composite panels, stated the company.

“I am pleased to announce that we have started manufacturing Alubond A1 fire-retardant ACPs that will reduce and stop fire incidents in civil structures and save properties and lives across the world,” Adnan Ul Mulk, Founder of Metal Plast Industries and Vice-Chairman of Mulk Holdings International, said at a press conference.

“We are proud to be the first manufacturer of A1 core in the Middle East – at our flagship industry at Hamriyah Free Zone. The game-changing product has been developed by our own research and development team and will soon be exported to other markets in the world and it shall be our endeavour to make the world safer with Alubond A1,” he stated.

Metal Plast Industries is claimed to be the first company in the Middle East and Europe to be manufacturing A1 cores. The company has started offering live demonstration of its A1 core manufacturing capability to global experts and buyers in its expansive facility located in Hamriyah Free Zone in Sharjah, UAE, where the new A1 core was tested to achieve below 1 MJ/kg heat release – an industry benchmark.

Metal Plast Industries’ research and development team, led by Rajiv Ranjan Jha, had developed the Alubond A1 fire-retardant core, meeting all international and UAE fire code standards.

The team used a combination of hybridisation and Nano technology by adding nanomaterials and reinforcement fillers to a matrix of minerals to achieve the desired strength and non-combustible performance of the A1 core.

The Alubond composite panel is claimed to be the first ACP of its kind to achieve an A1 fire rating, the highest – other A1 grade construction materials used in exterior facades are natural stone and solid metal, said the statement from the company.

A composite panel of 4 mm with two layers of aluminium skin bonded to an inner core of minerals to achieve A1 standards has always been a dream of the industry, it added.

Alubond A1 has achieved better standards including lowest heat release over high lamination, such as heat value less than 1.0 MJ/kg and peel strength above 7.0 Newton per sq m.

Jha, the man behind the development of this technology, stated: “After 10 years of successful implementation of FR B1 granules and A2 core, our R&D team developed the world’s highest fire rated A1 core for cladding.”

“Our R&D team is now in the process of adding more patented technologies to its portfolio such as lightweight fireproof cladding, conductive nano core for cladding and nano ceramic dust free cladding,” he explained.

The fire-retardant A1 ACPs are non-combustible and do not produce any smoke in the event of fire. They, therefore, offer an ideal sustainable alternative to façade materials made of metal or other cladding materials used for ventilated rain screen cladding façades systems, said Jha.

The FR-A1, which is a more advanced and a much safe product, is a significant improvement from the existing FR-A2 ACPs in the market. Fire is the major threat to life and property in high-rise buildings in the world and in the UAE which has the third highest number of skyscrapers in the world after China, USA and Japan.

The UAE, UK and the world including has suffered a spate of fires in its high-rises in recent years. The reason for the blazes, building and safety experts say, is the combustible core used in ACP cladding. The new A1 non-combustible core will minimise the risk of rapid spread of the blaze.

Alubond A1 is described as being particularly suitable for areas where very high fire protection or the use of non- combustible façade materials is required – for example on high-rise buildings or high-risk buildings, fire exit staircases and the like.

Alubond A1‘s excellent product and processing properties as well as its wide range of choice of finishes guarantee almost unlimited architectural design possibilities – both in refurbishment and new buildings.-TradeArabia News Service