Experimental and FEM Analysis of the Thermal Performance of Calcium Silicate Boards at High-Temperature Exposure

Calcium silicate boards are widely used in passive fire protection due to their high-temperature stability and excellent thermal insulation properties. In this study, thermal performance under high-temperature exposure of three commercially available calcium-silicate-based boards with different compositions, densities, thicknesses, and thermal conductivities was experimentally evaluated and complemented by finite element modeling (FEM). The boards were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate their composition, thermal stability, phase evolution, and microstructure. High-temperature tests were performed under severe thermal exposure, and temperature evolution on the unexposed surface was monitored. A one-dimensional FEM heat-transfer model employing effective thermophysical properties showed reasonable agreement with the experimental temperature profiles. Under equal-thickness conditions, Skamopro-300 exhibited the lowest unexposed-face temperature, mainly due to its substantially lower effective thermal conductivity, while Promatect-T and Naper-S showed comparatively similar thermal responses. The results demonstrate that combining experimental characterization with FEM provides an effective approach for comparing commercial calcium silicate fireboards and predicting their thermal performance under standardized geometrical conditions.