Introduction to Fire Performance Assessment of Fibre Reinforced Composites

Fibre reinforced composites are increasingly used across aerospace, marine, civil, and transport industries for their high strength-to-weight ratio and design flexibility. However, their performance under fire and flammability conditions presents critical challenges for safety and regulatory compliance. A wide range of industry-specific test methods have been developed and standardised to assess fire behaviour, including ignition resistance, heat release, smoke, toxicity, and structural performance during fire.

This webinar will provide an introduction to fire performance assessment of fibre reinforced composite materials, with an emphasis on standard test and material characterisation methods relevant to key industry sectors. The session will highlight strategies to improve performance: discussing resin and fibre specifics, flame-retardant additives, core and sandwich design, as well as coatings and barrier materials. Case studies and test data will be presented to illustrate the practical implications for engineers, designers, and manufacturers, offering practical guidance to evaluate and meet fire-safety requirements efficiently.

Presented by:
Stefanie Feih
Director, Advanced Design and Prototyping Technologies (ADaPT).
Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Griffith University.

Content discussed in the webinar is linked to the Knowledge in Practice Centre, allowing users to access this and other content in a consistent and coherent manner.

Bio

Professor Stefanie Feih is the Director of the Advanced Design and Prototyping Technologies (ADaPT) Institute and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Griffith University. With 25+ years of experience, Stefanie specializes in the design, simulation, and manufacturing of lightweight structures – composites, polymers, metals, and ceramics – for naval, aerospace, wind, offshore and biomedical applications.

Her seminal fire research work quantified how composite laminates and sandwich structures degrade under combined fire and load, linking temperature-driven material changes to structural responses. These insights underpin predictive models used by industry to design safer FRP systems and streamline qualification and compliance.