Video 1 (of 14) of Fire

Resistance
- Introduction to fire resistance
requirements and tabulated
(prescriptive method)
Fire Safety Requirements

To control, contain and put out fire so that the

affected people can evacuate to safety.

To minimise loss of property and business.

 Requirements of fire resistance: Fire resistance is part of
the provision to ensure that fire does not spread out of the original fire resistant
construction (structure). The three routes of fire spread through the
construction are below and they should be prevented. This course is concerned
with the loadbearing function of the loadbearing structure. However, the
loadbearing structure may also need to meet the insulation and integrity
requirements. Also fire spread through the non loadbearing construction (e.g.
ductwork & cavity) should be prevented.
Loadbearing Integrity
Insulation
Fire spread
Fire spread due to due to burning
excessive rise in through
Temp. >140C/180C
 Fire Resistance of Structures –
List of Contents
• Basics (Weeks 6-8, Videos 1-10):
- Requirements of fire resistance & introduction to tabulated design method
(Video 1)
- Procedure of fire engineering method (Videos 2)
- Behaviour and design of steel and composite structural elements (Videos 3-
4)
- Methods of fire protection of steel structures (Video 5)
- Behaviour and design of concrete and timber structures (Video 6)
- Assessment and repair of fire damaged structures (Video 7)
- Tensile membrane action (Video 8)
- Unprotected steelwork (Video 9)
- Example of advanced method (based on finite element modelling) (Video
10)
• Advanced Structural Fire Engineering topics (Week 9, Videos 11-14)
- whole structural behaviour (Videos 11-13)
- structural robustness in fire (Video 14)
 Fire Resistant Design Methods
• The tabulated method (often forming part of the so-called prescriptive
method) is simple to use, but has very narrowly defined conditions of
applicability. Nevertheless, it is widely used because it is simple and well
accepted in practice. An example is provided to illustrate how fire
protection to steelwork may be determined.
• It is possible to use more advanced methods to improve the flexibility of
design, to reduce the cost of construction, and to improve fire safety, by
understanding the performance requirements of fire safety so as to
make suitable bespoke fire protection provisions. This approach is
generally called performance-based design. It is the focus of this
course.
• Performance-based design is more complex and demands good
understanding of fire safety requirements and structural behaviour in
fire. Therefore, it should only be used if it can be demonstrated to add
value to the design.
Design Methods: Structural behaviour under fire is complex. The
design methods have different levels depending on the availability of tools and
expertise & design assumptions.
 Example of tabulated method
(prescriptive) for steel structures
Example:
Determine the
necessary fire
protection to a
structural steel
member in a non-
sprinklered office
building of 28m
tall.
Step 1: determine
the required
standard fire
resistance rating.
 Step 2: Based on the steel section size (UKC254x73) from cold
design and the assumed fire protection type (board), determine the Section
Factor Hp/A. Such information is provided in an industrial guide referred to as
the “Yellow Book”.

Example: UKC254x254x73, 4 sided box, Hp/A=110m-1

Tabular Method: Determination of Fire
Protection Thickness, Yellow Book
Step 3: Given FR=90 min, Hp/A=110 m , based on the fire protection
-1

product to be used, the fire protection thickness can be decided. For example,
here, 30mm thickness is good for section factors up to 119m-1 at FR=90minutes
if the assessment temperature is 550oC under the standard fire exposure.

Thickness = 30mm
 Assessment Temperature: this is the
temperature that the steelwork should not exceed in fire. In the tabulated
method, it is typically fixed (550C for columns and 620C for beams). However,
this value can change depending on the loading condition on the structure.
Assessment temperatures (Beam: 620 C, Column: o

550oC): they are related to the 2% steel stress level of about 60% of yield
at ambient temperature.
Standard fire resistance tests
 Standard Fire Resistance Tests: the
tabulated method has been developed based on standard fire resistance tests
which still dominate the development of fire protection methods. In this type of
test, an isolated structural member with idealised loading and boundary
conditions and limited dimensions, which may have no relation to the design
situation, is exposed to fire in a furnace that is regulated to follow the standard
fire exposure temperature-time relationship. A typical horizontal test (beam/floor
slab) is shown below.

No dimensional No dimensional
restraint restraint

X X
No rotational No rotational
fixity fixity
 No dimensional
restraint
Lateral
restraint

No rotational
No lateral fixity
restraint

Standard fire
Rotational
resistance fixity
test: a typical vertical Lateral
(column/wall) test restraint
arrangement is sketched.
Translational
fixity
 Summary and Pros & Cons of
tabulated method
• Fire resistance deals with containment of fire in fire resistant compartment:
loadbearing, insulation, integrity
• A variety of methods with different levels of difficulty – use the simplest one if
it works.
• Use the fire engineering approach if there are advantages.
• Tabulated method (prescriptive approach):
- Easy to use, well accepted in industry, still widely practised.
- Based on standard fire resistance tests with many limitations, e.g. not
suitable for realistic fire conditions, isolated structural members with simple
support conditions, size restriction, loading restriction, no consideration of
structural interactions, laboratory dependent (e.g. depending on fuel source,
furnace construction)