A novel model for interpreting experimental results from sandwich composites exposed to fire conditions

Composite materials offer a large range of advantages for the marine industry such as light weight, reduction of the maintenance costs and the possibility to create complex shapes. However, in order to have the approval of the authorities for building a SOLAS vessel with composite materials, this alternative design has to show an equivalent level of safety as the prescriptive requirement which is based on the use of metals [1]. Several solutions have been proposed to define new methodologies that demonstrate the required fire safety, these can be distinguished into two main ideologies; A) The tradeoff approach, i.e. staying as close as possible to the prescriptive regulations by making conservative equivalences, often in terms of passive protection, compared to an equivalent prescriptive design [2], and B) The performance based approach that looks into the overall performance in a fire situation. [3].