Annotated Summary (Draft 1)

 

McKenna, S.T., Jones, N., Peck, G., Dickens, K., Pawelec, W., Oradei, S., Harris, S., Stec, A.A., & Hull, T.R. (2019). Fire behaviour of modern façade materials – Understanding the Grenfell Tower fire. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 368, 115-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.077


In the article, McKenna, Jones, Peck, Dickens, Pawelec, Oradei, Harris, Stec and Hull (2019) claimed that cladding panels used on the external walls of the Grenfell Tower in Kensington consist of the aluminum polyethylene composite material. Polyethylene aluminum composites showed “55 times greater heat release rates (PHRR) and 70 times greater total heat release (THR)” than the least flammable panels. A few drips from the burning polyethylene material is enough to ignite the foam insulation causing fast flame spreading to the other cladding panels. This research article emphasized that the polyethylene material used in the cladding panels on the exterior of Grenfell Tower was an important factor that caused the fire to spread very rapidly and eventually killed a total of 72 occupants. This shows that aluminum polyethylene composite material is very flammable and dangerous.

This research article provides valuable information for our research project on why flammable material such as polyethylene is not suitable to be use in aluminum composite panels (ACPs). Due to the aspect of flammability, aluminum polyethylene composite material should not be use in cladding panels as it posts a huge danger and risk to the building occupants. Our research team has also proposed sensors to be implemented and installed on the cladding panels to detect fire as soon as possible.  While the research in the article was about the fire behaviour of modern façade materials regarding the Grenfell Tower Fire, the article gives relevant information and statistics about the danger of using polyethylene material in ACPs which is a specific focus in our research project.

 

Revised as of  26th November 2020  2345 hrs

Read on : Eryn's, Si Ting's & Angelo's

 


Comments

  1. Eryn NgaiNovember 24, 2020 at 11:16 PM

    Dear Louis,

    This is a well written summary of the article.

    There are some errors in the tense used. For example, ".. on the exterior of Grenwell Tower was an..", another is ".. proposed sensors to be implemented and installed..".

    Regards,
    Eryn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Louis LiowNovember 26, 2020 at 9:43 PM

      Dear Eryn,

      Thank you for taking the time to read my annotated summary.

      I will make changes on the tense used in my sentences on my revised version.

      Best Regard,
      Louis

      Delete
  2. kingNovember 28, 2020 at 1:38 PM

    Hi Louis,

    Thank you for writing this well written and informative summary, it provides more information on how fire starts easily in cladding. It is saddened to see that so many lives were lost in the Grenfell Tower due to cladding fires. Necessary changes should be implemented so that more lives will not be lost due to these kind of fires.

    Regards,
    Si Ting

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brad BlackstoneDecember 5, 2020 at 6:53 PM

    Thanks, Louis, for the revision.

    ReplyDelete

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