Large-scale fire tests and observations of actual building fires have shown that the fire performance of real buildings is much better than expected based on conventional fire test data and simplistic analyses of the problem.
Recent research has shown that standard fire resistance requirements are typically over specifying the fire protection needed in practice. It is clear that there are large reserves of fire resistance in modern steel-framed buildings and that standard fire resistance tests on single unrestrained members do not provide a satisfactory indicator of the performance of such structures. An understanding of these effects has required the linking of concepts and techniques from structural engineering and fire dynamics; the resulting sub-discipline of Fire Safety Engineering has been dubbed ‘Structural Fire Engineering’ (SFE).
Using sophisticated finite element computational methods, Halcrow fire engineers are able to simulate the response of a steel or concrete structure to the effects of thermal assault arising from a fire within the boundaries of that structure.
Using these techniques, it can be demonstrated that for a typical 7-storey office building with a gross floor area of 4000 m2, the cost-saving from reduced passive fire protection could be up to £175k (see figure 1).
Moreover, the advantages of SFE extend beyond the optimisation of passive fire protection and other applications include:
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analysis of building response to extreme events |
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development of innovative fire safety solutions within a performance-based framework |
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forensic analysis of fire-damaged buildings |
