Performance-Based Fire Engineering of Structures

This authoritative book summarizes the latest knowledge on performance-based approaches to the fire safety engineering of structures. Going beyond codes of practice, it addresses issues that have become more important in recent years, including the integrity of fire-resistant compartmentation, the progressive collapse of structures in fire and provisions for connection robustness, and accurate information on material properties at high temperatures. Written by core members of the COST C26 working group on fire resistance, it explains how to use advanced fire engineering design to improve structural safety and reduce construction costs.

Major events—notably the Broadgate fire in London, New York’s World Trade Center collapse, and the Windsor Tower fire in Madrid—as well as the enlightening studies at the Cardington fire research project have given international prominence to performance-based structural fire engineering. As a result, structural fire engineering has increasingly attracted the interest not only of fire and structural engineers but also of researchers and students. And studies in recent years have generated a vast number of findings.

Performance-Based Fire Engineering of Structures summarizes the latest knowledge on performance-based approaches to structural fire engineering, enabling readers to critically assess research in the field. Whereas most recent books have been mainly concerned with dissemination of principles encapsulated in established codes of practice such as the Eurocodes, this work addresses in depth:

• Global structural behaviour and modelling
• Progressive collapse of structures in fire and the importance of connection robustness
• The integrity of compartmentation in fire
• Structural fire engineering under realistic fire conditions and its implications for material properties
• The limitations of research results and design methods
• The unexploited potential for advanced fire engineering design

This authoritative book draws on the work of internationally active researchers who were core members of the European Network project’s COST C26 working group on fire resistance. It helps readers develop a thorough understanding of how to use advanced fire engineering design to improve structural safety and reduce construction costs.