National Workshop on Structures in Fire: State-of-the-Art, Research and Training Needs.
National Workshop on Structures in Fire:
State-of-the-Art, Research and Training Needs.
(298 K)
Kodur, V.; Garlock, M.; Iwankiw, N.
NIST GCR 07-915; CEE-RR-2007/03; 55 p. December 2007.
National Workshop on Structures in Fire:
State-of-the-Art, Research and Training Needs.
Proceedings. June 11-12, 2007, East Lansing, MI, 2007.
Sponsor:
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD
Keywords:
training; conferences; fire safety; high temperature;
fire tests; sensors; verification; structural design;
fire load; scenarios; sensitivity analysis; structures;
specifications; ASTM E 119; standards; fire protection;
experiments; codes; education; technology transfer
Abstract:
Structural fire safety is one of the key considerations
in the design and
maintenance of built infrastructure. There are serious
limitations in the current
approaches to structural fire safety and also severe
knowledge gaps in the literature. Two
main reasons for these limitations are the lack of
significant research activities in this
field and lack of educational and training programs in
the universities. To review the
current state-of-the-art and to identify the research
and training needs for improved fire
safety in the U.S., a two-day National Workshop was
organized at Michigan State
University. The workshop brought together many academics
from U.S. universities, in
addition to international experts and design
professionals in the structural fire safety field.
The deliberations from presentations, panel discussions,
and break-out sessions formed
the basis for this report and the information was used
to develop research and training
needs for improving the state-of-the-art in the
structural fire safety field. Accordingly, the
top ten research and training needs are:
(*) Development of high-temperature constitutive
material models
(*) Development of new sensor technology for fire tests
(*) Collection and generation of test data for model
verification
(*) Development of acceptable tools and criteria for
undertaking structural fire design
(*) Defining proper fire loads (scenarios) for
developing numerical models and
design guidelines
(*) Performing sensitivity analyses and parametric
studies to identify factors
governing global structural response
(*) Undertaking full-scale fire tests on decommissioned
buildings
(*) Characterizing connection behavior
(*) Development of university curriculum related to
structures in fire at the graduate
and undergraduate levels
(*) Improving the procedures and specifications to
modify the ASTM E119 standard
fire test.
Full details related to above research and training
needs are discussed in the
report. It is hoped that the research and training need
priorities identified in this report
will stimulate significant new research and training
activities in the structural fire safety
field. Such activities should generate rational design
methodologies, numerical models,
innovative technologies, high performing materials and
better informed practitioners and
educators, all of which will improve the current
practice of structural fire design to
enhance public safety and potentially reduce or
reallocate fire protection costs.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899