Fire-Related Properties of Materials Chapter 7

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved.

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Fire is the largest killer of building occupants in the United States Factors Affecting Fire Safety Architectural design Construction materials and systems Fire detection and suppression Public education

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved.

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Fire Prevention Building Code Fire Prevention Code (NFPA in US) - safety in a building during use and occupancy Locating and maintaining fire protection appliances Maintaining clear means of egress Storage of combustible materials

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Fire safe construction Regulated by building code Combustiblity of materials determined by ASTM testing requirements Non-combustible materials will not add fuel to a fire

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. ASTM Test

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Non-combustible core

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Products given off in building fire Heat Smoke Fire gases Solid particulates Liquid particulates

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Fire gases  Carbon Dioxide  Carbon Monoxide  Hydrogen Cyanide  Hydrogen Chloride  Acrolein  Other Gases

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Fire-rated assemblies Perform structural function without collapse Remain fire tight for duration of the fire Temperature of the unexposed face of the assembly too low to ignite combustibles in adjacent compartment

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Compartmentalization

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Types of Construction Type I & II noncombustible Type III & IV noncombustible/ combustible Type V combustible

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Type II(B)

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Type V(B)

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Type IVHeavy Timber (HT)

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Problem: Use Table 7.1 to determine construction type of following building MaterialFire Rating Structural frame, steel columns and girders 2-hour Exterior bearing wallsNone Interior bearing wallsNone Floor assembly, steel deck on steel beams with concrete topping 1-hour Roof assembly, wood rafters and plywood sheathing 1-hour

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Solution All components are non-combustible so building is either Type I or Type II Based on Table 7.1, all components match with Type II (A)

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Directory of Fire Resistance Reports fire resistance of fire ratings for various building assemblies Based on standard fire tests of the entire assembly Tests typically conducted by Underwriters Laboratories

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Fire-stopping penetrations, fire-sealing joints

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Fire containment in curtain wall

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Interior Finishes Flame spread index (FSI) Measure of rate at which flames spread on the surface of an assembly. Determined by Steiner Tunnel Test Scale starts with 0, no upper limit Smoke developed index (SDI) Measure of visibility through smoke developed from burning of interior finishes Scale starts with 0, no upper limit

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Classification of interior finishes Flame Spread Class FSISDI Class A0 - 25<450 Class B <450 Class C <450

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Building code requirements for interior finish class

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems © 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. Automatic fire sprinklers Building codes encourage use by allowing greater area and height in sprinklered buildings Allow a reduction in fire resistance rating for some assemblies Lower required class of interior finishes