How does the natural gypsum powder substrate of encapsulated calcium sulphate raised access floor affect its fire resistance and moisture resistance?
Publish Time: 2026-02-12
In modern data centers, clean rooms, intelligent office buildings, and other environments with extremely high requirements for flooring systems, encapsulated calcium sulphate raised access flooring is widely used due to its excellent overall performance. Its core substrate—100% green and environmentally friendly natural gypsum powder—not only gives the product sustainable attributes but also plays a decisive role in the two key performance aspects of fire resistance and moisture resistance. A deep understanding of the physicochemical properties of natural gypsum powder helps to reveal how it supports the safe and stable performance of raised floors in harsh environments.
1. The Crystalline Water Structure of Natural Gypsum Powder: A "Built-in Fire Extinguisher" for Fire Resistance
The core advantage of natural gypsum powder lies in its molecular structure, which contains approximately 21% crystalline water. When exposed to high temperatures or open flames, this crystalline water is gradually released, absorbing a large amount of heat and effectively slowing down the temperature rise of the substrate. Experiments show that in standard fire resistance tests, calcium sulfate flooring with high-purity natural gypsum as the base material can achieve Class A non-combustible performance with a fire resistance limit exceeding 60 minutes. During this process, although the surface of the gypsum board may carbonize, its internal structure remains intact, producing no toxic fumes, thus buying valuable time for personnel evacuation and equipment protection. This "passive fire protection" mechanism stems from the inherent properties of the material, requiring no additional flame retardants, truly achieving a balance between green and safe practices.
2. High Purity and Dense Structure: The Foundation for Enhanced Moisture Resistance
Although gypsum itself is hydrophilic, the use of 100% high-purity natural gypsum powder, along with high-pressure molding and a fully enclosed sealing process, significantly inhibits moisture intrusion. High-quality natural gypsum has few impurities and forms a uniform and dense crystalline network structure after hydration, with low porosity and mostly closed micropores. Combined with high-strength steel plates on the top and bottom surfaces and PVC or aluminum edging around the edges, the entire flooring unit forms a "sandwich" sealed system. Actual test data shows that after 28 days in a constant humidity environment of 90% relative humidity and 30℃, the water absorption rate of high-quality encapsulated calcium sulfate flooring can be controlled to ≤3%, far lower than that of ordinary cement-based raised flooring, effectively preventing strength reduction, deformation, or mold growth caused by moisture absorption.
3. Synergistic Effect of Encapsulation Technology and Substrate: Building a Double Moisture Barrier
The moisture-proof performance of the natural gypsum powder substrate depends not only on itself but also on its deep coupling with the encapsulation technology. The fully enclosed structure blocks the path of moisture penetration from the edges and surface, while the high-density gypsum core acts as a second line of defense, preventing rapid moisture diffusion even if local seals are damaged. Furthermore, some high-end products introduce trace amounts of hydrophobic modifiers into the gypsum core to further reduce capillary water absorption. This "material + structure" double-insurance design allows the flooring to maintain dimensional stability and load-bearing capacity over a long period in humid areas or air-conditioned condensation environments.
4. Environmental Attributes and Performance Do Not Conflict: Verification of High-Performance Green Materials
It is worth noting that the use of 100% natural gypsum powder does not sacrifice performance for environmental protection. Conversely, its natural mineral properties avoid the heavy metals or radioactive impurities that may be present in industrial by-product gypsum. Meanwhile, the high purity of the raw materials ensures the sufficiency of the hydration reaction and the integrity of the crystal structure, thus enhancing mechanical and durability properties. Therefore, environmental protection and high performance are highly unified.
The encapsulated calcium sulphate raised access floor excels in fire and moisture resistance, fundamentally due to its core material science logic based on 100% natural gypsum powder: crystalline water provides inherent fire resistance, the high-purity, dense structure lays the foundation for moisture resistance, and a fully encapsulated process forms a multi-layered protective system. This not only meets the comprehensive needs of modern buildings for safety, environmental protection, and functionality but also demonstrates the enormous potential of natural materials in high-end engineering applications. In the future, with advancements in gypsum purification and modification technologies, its performance boundaries will continue to expand.
