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Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering, Volume II

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A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255). This special issue belongs to the section "Fire Risk Assessment and Safety Management in Buildings and Urban Spaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 8166

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Maged A. Youssef

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
Interests: structural analysis; structural dynamics; earthquakes; concrete; fire; evaluation; rehabilitation; seismic capacity; fiber reinforced polymers; FRP; shape memory alloys; SMA; modular steel structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Performance-based design of structures in fire is gaining growing interest as a rational alternative to the traditionally adopted prescriptive code approach. This interest has led to its introduction in different codes and standards around the globe. Although engineers widely use performance-based methods to design structural components in earthquake engineering, adoption of such methods in fire engineering is still very limited. This Special Issue will address this shortcoming by providing engineers with the needed knowledge and recent research activities addressing performance-based design in structural fire engineering, including fire development, fire dynamics, heat transfer calculations, capacity of structural and non-structural elements, and fire-induced deformations. Although all submissions are welcome, studies that focus on structures within or near the wildland urban interface, structures of cultural importance, and outside structural fires (e.g. cladding fires) are of particular interest to the readership of Fire. I invite you to submit a paper to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Maged A. Youssef
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

fire dynamics
travelling fires
heat transfer
capacity
deformations
performance-based design

Related Special Issues

Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering in Fire (10 articles)
Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering, Volume III in Fire

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 5061 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Available Safety Egress Time (ASET) in Performance-Based Design (PBD) Using CFAST

by Hyo-Yeon Jang and Cheol-Hong Hwang

Fire 2024, 7(4), 108; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire7040108 - 25 Mar 2024

Viewed by 542

Abstract

In South Korea, the need to link fire and evacuation simulations to compare the available safety egress time (ASET) and required safety egress time (RSET) in real time when implementing performance-based design in buildings is increasing. Accordingly, the Consolidated Model of Fire Growth and Smoke Transport (CFAST) has been discussed as an alternative to the fire dynamics simulator, which requires high computational costs, sufficient experience in fire dynamics numerical calculations, and various input parameters and faces limitations in integration with evacuation simulations. A method for establishing a reasonable computational domain to predict the activation times of smoke and heat detectors has been proposed. This study examined the validity of using CFAST to predict factors relevant to the ASET evaluation. The results showed that CFAST, which solved empirical correlations based on heat release rates, predicted high gas temperatures similarly. Moreover, the applicability of the visibility distance calculation method using smoke concentration outputs from CFAST was examined. The results suggest that despite the limitations of the zone model, CFAST can produce reasonable ASET results. These results are expected to enhance the usability of CFAST in terms of understanding general fire engineering technology and simple fire dynamics trends. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering, Volume II)

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14 pages, 6845 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantitative Comparison of Maximum Heat Release Rates of Thermoplastics in Open and Compartment Fire Environments

by Hong-Seok Yun and Cheol-Hong Hwang

Fire 2024, 7(2), 56; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire7020056 - 15 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1116

Abstract

Consideration of appropriate fire scenarios in the simulations of the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) for the fire-risk assessment of buildings is a critical factor in the development of prevention and response measures. The user dependence of the FDS input parameters can threaten the reliability of the fire-risk assessment. An experimental study was conducted to establish correlations for considering appropriate fire scenarios using polymethyl methacrylate. To examine the changes in the maximum-heat-release rates (HRRs) according to the combustion environment, nine burners varying in size at 25 mm intervals were burned in open and compartment environments. The results indicated that compared with the fire phenomenon in the open environment, the maximum HRR and fire growth rate of the compartment fire were increased by factors of 3–50. Additionally, the compartment fire phenomena could be classified into three stages according to the changes in the aforementioned two physical quantities. An analysis of the experimental results revealed a correlation for predicting the maximum HRR of a compartment fire with various ventilation conditions using only the experimental results for the open environment. The maximum HRR predicted through this correlation exhibited an error of <15% relative to the values measured in the experiment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering, Volume II)

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17 pages, 7823 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Mechanical Properties of Lightweight Foamed Concrete at Varying Elevated Temperatures

by Md Azree Othuman Mydin

Fire 2023, 6(2), 53; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire6020053 - 02 Feb 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1769

Abstract

Lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) made from cementitious materials with air pores entrapped in the matrix by mechanically entrained foam in the mortar slurry has several economic and environmental benefits. Most recently, LFC has been heralded as the next generation of lightweight construction industry concrete because of its versatility and technological advancements. Owing to its many desirable qualities, including low density, low cost, low thermal conductivity, low dimensional change, amazing load-bearing capacity, great workability, and low weight, it is considered an adaptable and flexible construction material. Given that LFC is a brittle building material and since fire is among the most frequent catastrophes to affect structures, it is crucial to consider the structural performance of LFC subjected to high temperatures. Hence, this experiment attempts to ascertain the effect of varying elevated temperatures on the LFC’s strength properties. Three LFC densities of 500, 1000 and 1500 kg/m³ were prepared. The LFC specimens were exposed to predetermined ambient and elevated temperatures of 20, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800 °C, and the LFC samples were assessed for porosity, compressive and flexural strengths. The outcomes of this investigation showed that, regardless of density, the loss of LFC stiffness exposed to elevated temperatures happened primarily after 90 °C. This shows that the underlying process triggering stiffness loss is internal cracking, that transpires when water grows and dissolves from a porous medium. Lowering the LFC dry density diminishes its strength and rigidity. The LFC-normalized strength and stiffness–temperature relationships of various dry densities, on the other hand, are very comparable. From ambient temperature up until 400 °C, all densities exhibit a moderate and constant loss in strength and stiffness. Nevertheless, the decline is faster up to 600 °C or 800 °C, at which point it loses its ability to support any given weight. This study emphasized the necessity for more study and codes’ provisions that take into consideration various LFC constituent types and cutting-edge construction material technologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering, Volume II)

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18 pages, 3158 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reliability-Based Fire Resistance Periods for Buildings in England

by Danny Hopkin and Ian Fu

Fire 2023, 6(1), 30; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire6010030 - 12 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1889

Abstract

The traditional route to achieving adequate structural performance in the event of fire is through ensuring that structural elements attain fire resistance ratings. The magnitude of these ratings typically varies in function of the building use, size, and height. In their genesis, fire resistance ratings were a proxy for the specification required of elements such that they had a reasonable likelihood of surviving the full duration of a fire, i.e., burn-out. As such, fire resistance periods were specified in the function of fire load, which, over time, progressively increased in consideration of the consequences of fire induced structural failure. This ratcheting of fire resistance periods was seemingly done so based on the collective experience of the profession, in response to observations from real fires and, where applicable, resulting disasters. That is, the safety levels associated with current fire resistance recommendations in most global codes and guidance documents are not determined. Therefore, this paper presents a review of reliability-based acceptance criteria for structures, ahead of their application, to determine fire resistance recommendations for buildings in England based on both codified reliability indices and the principle of relative (marginal) lifesaving costs. The study applies a novel form of probabilistic time equivalence, which is augmented by fire occurrence related statistics/parameters, to arrive at risk-informed fire resistance ratings that directly relate to the life safety consequences of fire induced structural failure (i.e., fatalities) to adequate fire resistance ratings. In determining these building fire resistance periods, it is observed that safety targets which implicitly include material damage and building reconstruction costs result in fire resistance recommendations that are well-aligned with National codes and standards. That is, to some extent, the ratcheting of fire resistance periods with time has resulted in some potential resilience to fire. Where safety targets are rationalised in consideration of life safety only, i.e., through the principle of relative (marginal) lifesaving costs, it is shown that fire resistance periods can be optimised, particularly in sprinkler protected buildings. However, this has the potential to introduce vulnerabilities to common mode failures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering, Volume II)

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32 pages, 21940 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bushfire-Resistant Lightweight Masonry Blocks with Expanded Perlite Aggregate

by Indunil Erandi Ariyaratne, Anthony Ariyanayagam and Mahen Mahendran

Fire 2022, 5(5), 132; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5050132 - 30 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1999

Abstract

During bushfires, one of the building elements that is directly exposed to embers, radiant heat and direct flames is the “wall” element. This study investigated the feasibility of using expanded perlite aggregate in masonry (i.e., cement) blocks to enhance their bushfire resistant characteristics. The chemical, physical, and thermal properties of expanded perlite aggregate were determined first and then masonry block cement mixes were developed by replacing sand in the conventional mix with expanded perlite aggregate by volume at different percentages (100, 80, 60, and 40%). The properties of fresh and hardened cement mixes (slump, density, compressive strength, and water absorption) were measured. The developed masonry blocks were exposed to Bushfire Flame Zone conditions (i.e., 20–842 °C) and the standard fire curve for three hours (i.e., 20–1110 °C) to assess their resistance to bushfires and building fires, respectively. The properties of Cement–Expanded Perlite mixes were compared with those of the standard Cement–Sand mix. The test results showed that the use of perlite aggregate reduced the workability, density, and compressive strength of the cement mix while increasing the water absorption and fire resistance level. All the developed perlite blocks were lightweight and had three hours of fire resistance level (-/180/180). When exposed to bushfire flame zone conditions, the blocks made with 100, 80, and 60% perlite satisfied the maximum ambient surface temperature limit. Of these, masonry blocks made with 60% perlite aggregate are the most suitable for use in external walls of bushfire shelters and residential and commercial buildings in bushfire-prone areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance-Based Design in Structural Fire Engineering, Volume II)

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