Development of realistic design fire time-temperature curves for the testing of cold-formed steel wall systems

Abstract

Fire resistance rating of light gauge steel frame (LSF) wall systems is obtained from fire tests based on the standard fire time-temperature curve. However, fire severity has increased in modern buildings due to higher fuel loads as a result of modern furniture and light weight constructions that make use of thermoplastics materials, synthetic foams and fabrics. Some of these materials are high in calorific values and increase both the spread of fire growth and heat release rate, thus increasing the fire severity beyond that of the standard fire curve. Further, the standard fire curve does not include a decay phase that is present in natural fires. Despite the increasing usage of LSF walls, their behavior in real building fires is not fully understood. This paper presents the details of a research study aimed at developing realistic design fire curves for use in the fire tests of LSF walls. It includes a review of the characteristics of building fires, previously developed fire time-temperature curves, computer models and available parametric equations. The paper highlights that real building fire time-temperature curves depend on the fuel load representing the combustible building contents, ventilation openings and thermal properties of wall lining materials, and provides suitable values of many required parameters including fuel loads in residential buildings. Finally, realistic design fire time-temperature curves simulating the fire conditions in modern residential buildings are proposed for the testing of LSF walls.

Keywords

fire safety / standard fire curve / realistic design fire time-temperature curves / light gauge steel frame (LSF) walls / fuel load / fire resistance rating

References

[1] ISO 834: 1999. Fire Resistance Tests–Elements of Buildings Construction. International Organization for Standardization, Switzerland

[2] Ohilemiller T J, Shields J R (2008) Aspects of the Fire Behaviour of Thermoplastic Materials. National Institute of Standards and Technology Technical Note 1493, 2008

[3] Nyman F J. Equivalent Fire Resistance Ratings of Construction Elements Exposed to Realistic Fires. Research Report, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2002

[4] Lennon T, Moore D. The natural fire safety concept–full-scale tests at Cardington. Fire Safety Journal, 2003, 38(7): 623-643

[5] Jones B H. Performance of Gypsum Plasterboard Assemblies Exposed to Real Building Fires. Research Report, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2001

[6] Lewis C. Are House Fires Changing? - Chris Lewis questions whether domestic house fires are becoming faster and more ferocious. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 2008, 23(1): 44-48

[7] Bwalya A C, Lougheed G S, Su J, Taber B, Benichou N, Kashef A. Development of a Fuel Package for Use in the Fire Performance of Houses Project. In: Fire and Materials Conference, San Francisco, USA, 2007

[8] ASTM E119–08a. Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials. American National Standards Institute, West Conshohocken, USA, 2008

[9] Bwalya A C, Lougheed G S, Kashef A, Saber H H. Survey Results of Combustible Contents and floor areas in Canadian Multi-Family Dwellings. Research Report No.253, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2008

[10] Babrauskas V, Willamson R B. The Historical Basis of Fire Resistance Testing - Part 1 and II. Fire Technology, 1978, 14(3&4)

[11] ENV 1991–1-2: 2002. Eurocode 1: Actions on Structures, Part 1.2: Actions on Structures Exposed to Fire. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, Belgium, 2002

[12] Buchanan A H. Structural Design for Fire Safety. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2001

[13] Bwalya A C, Benichou N, Sultan M A. Literature Review on Design Fires. Research Report No.159, National Research Council Canada, Ontario, Canada, 2003

[14] Lie T T. Characteristics Temperature Curves for Various Fire Severities. Fire Technology, 1974, 10(4): 315-326

[15] Petterson O, Magnusson SE and Thou J (1974) Fire Engineering Design of Steel Structures. Swedish Institute of Steel Construction, Bulletin 50.

[16] Parkinson L D, Kodur V, Sullivan P D. Performance-Based Design of Structural Steel for Fire Conditions. A Calculation Methodology. USA: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2009

[17] Law M. A Basis for the Design of Fire Protection of Building Structures. The Structural Engineer, 1983, 61A(1)

[18] Mehaffy J R. Performance-Based Design of Fire Resistance in Wood-Frame Buildings. In: Interflam, 1999, 293-304

[19] Ma Z, Makelainen P. Parametric temperature-time curves of medium compartment fires for structural design. Fire Safety Journal, 2000, 34(4): 361-375

[20] Barnett C R. BFD curve: A New Empirical Model for Fire Compartment Temperatures. Fire Safety Journal, 2002, 37(5): 437-463

[21] Barnett C R. Replacing International Temperature-Time Curves with BFD Curve. Fire Safety Journal, 2007, 42(4): 321-327

[22] Barnett C R, Clifton G C. Examples of fire engineering design for Steel members using a standard curve versus a new parametric curve. Fire and Materials, 2004, 28(24): 309-322

[23] Stern-Gottfried J, Rein G, Bisby L A, Torero J L. Experimental Review of Homogenous Temperature Assumption in Post-flashover Compartment Fires. Fire Safety Journal, 2010, 45(4): 249-261

[24] Abecassis-Empis C, Reska P, Steinhaus T, Cowlard A, Biteau H. Welch S, Rein G and Torero JL. Characterization of Dalmarnock Fire Test One. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 2008, 32: 1334-1343

[25] Bukowski R W. Determining design fires for design - level and extreme events. In: SFPE 6th International Conference on Performance - Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods. Tokyo, Japan, 2006

[26] CIB W14 Workshop. Design guide structural fire safety report of CIB W14 workshop. Fire Safety J, 1986, 10(2): 77-137

[27] Kumar S, Rao K C V S. Fire load in residential buildings. Building and Environment, 1995, 30(2): 299-305

[28] NFPA 557: 2012. Standard for determinations of fire load for use in structural fire protection design-2012 Edition. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, USA

[29] Keerthan P, Mahendran M. Numerical studies of gypsum plasterboard panels under standard fire conditions. Fire Safety Journal, 2012, 53: 105-119

[30] EN 1993–1-2: 2005. Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures- Part 1.2: General Rules- Structural Fire Design. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, Belgium

[31] Pope N D, Bailey C G. Quantitative comparison of FDS and parametric fire curves with post-flashover compartment fire test data. Fire Safety Journal, 2006, 41(2): 99-110

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg