ir-396 shorter steel industry work

7/21/2019 IR-396 Shorter Steel Industry Work

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NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA

DIVISION

OF

BUILDING

RESEARCH

WORK UNDER

THE

CSICC/NRC INDUSTRIES

FELLOWSHIP

ITS OBJECTIVES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

by

G. W.

Shorter

and W. W. Stanzak

Internal

Repor t

No.

396

of

the

Division

of

Building Research

OTTAWA

Apri l

1970

ANALYZED


2/16

PREFACE

In

1964 the Division of Building

R e s e a r c h entered

into an

agreement with

the s t e e l

industry of Canada,

r e p r e s e n t e d

a t that

t ime

by

the

Steel

Industr ies

Advisory Council,

for

the

establ ish

men t

of

a s t e e l

Industr ies Fellowship a t

the

National

R e s e a r c h

Council .

The

s t e e l

i ndust ry ag re ed to support

a

Fel low to

be

a s

signed to

the

staff

of the

F i r e

R e s e a r c h

Section.

Topics

for study,

which

by

p r i o r

agreemen t

were

to

b e con ce rn ed

with the

act ion

of

s t e e l under f i r e exposure, were

selected

by the Fel lowship

Com

mittee

composed

of m e m b e r s from the s t e e l

indus t ry and

f rom

DBR/NRC. An indus t ry re pre se nta tiv e s erv ed a s

cha i rman.

Mr. W. W. Stanzak, a mechanical engineer , was

appointed

as the f i r s t

Steel

Industr ies Fellow and was the author of

DBR In

t e r n a l Repor t No. 353,

which

covers

the t e r m of the

f i r s t Fel low

ship

ag reement f rom September

1964 to August 1967.

Mr.

Stanzak

was

re-appointed

for a second

Fellowship

t e rm.

sponsored

by the

Canadian Steel

Industr ies

Construct ion Counc

i l, which ran f r o m

October 1968 to October

1971.

The p r e s e n t

r e p o r t

was p r e p a r e d

for

m e m b e r s

of the

joint CSICC/NRC Fel lowship

Commit tee

by Mr. G.

W.

Shorter ,

head of

the

F i r e R e s e a r c h

Section

a t DBR/NRC, and the

Steel

Industr ies

Fellow.

explains

the gener al na tu re of the work as

well as its objectives and achievements . As will be seen

f rom

the appended

l i s t

of

publications, the

work

r e p r e s e n t s

the Fellow. s

own

r e s e a r c h efforts

and

projects on which he co-operated with

his

DBR/NRC

colleagues.

OTTAWA

Apri l 1972

N.

B.

Hutcheon

Director


3/16

WORK UNDER

THE

CSICC/NRC STEEL INDUSTRIES

FELLOWSHIP

ITS

OBJECTIVES

AND ACHIEVEMENTS

by

G. W.

S h o r t e r

and

W. W.

Stanzak

This p a p e r is in tended to

s e r v e

a s background

m a t e r i a l

fo r

m e m b e r s

of

the j o i n t

CSICC/NRC

Fe ll owshi p Commi tt ee t h a t

was c r e a t e d in 1964 to

guide the

work

to be done

under

the

Fel lowship a g r e e m e n t .

The

f i r s t

t h r e e - y e a r

Fel lowship

t e r m under the a g r e e m e n t between

CSICC and DBR/NRC took effect in September 1964. A second t e r m , with

work

conducted

on a p a r t - t i m e b a s i s , r a n f r o m 1 October 1968 to the

end

of

September

1971.

A

new

a g r e e m e n t

under

which the

Fel low

will

divide

his

t ime between DBR/NRC and

CSICC

a s

a f i r e p r o t ec t io n c o n s u lt a n t has

followed. The t h r e e

a g r e e m e n t s

made

to date

in vo lv e th e

s a m e

Fel low,

W. W.

Stan

zak,

DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH PROGRAM

The

S t ee l I n d u st ri e s

Fellowship

Agreem ent, as i t has

come

to be

cal led. was the

f i r s t s c h e m e of i t s kind

in

Canada. B a s i c a l l y i t

involves

the

sponsoring,

by the s t e e l industry , of

a F e l l o w

to work a t DBR/NRC

on subjects r e l a t e d to the behaviour of s t e e l in f i r e . Studies

w e re g en er al l y

confined

to

a r e a s

in which

a

staff

m e m b e r

of

DBR/NRC

m i g h t

work. w ith

r e s e a r c h guided by the jo in t CSICC/NRC Stee l I n d u s t r i e s Fellow sh ip Com

m i t t e e a t i t s r e gu la r m e e t i n g s .

T h r ee g en er al d ir e ct iv es w e r e im m e d ia te ly adopted by the Com-

mit tee:

1. t h a t

the Fe ll ow should condu ct

a

s e a r c h of the l i t e r a t u r e

r e l a t i n g

to

the behaviour of s t e e l

under

f i r e condi t ions and compi le a bibl iography;

2. t h a t

the

Fellow s hould p la n f i r e

t e s t s

a g r e e d

upon by the m e m b e r s ) to

fi l l

gaps in

exis t ing

t e s t

data.

p a r t i c u l a r l y

with

a

view

to

providing

r a t i n g s fo r

use in Supp lement No .2

to

the National Building

Code of

Canada, and

3.

t h a t

the Fel low should c o - o p e r a t e with

s e n i o r

m e m b e r s of the

F i r e

Sec tio n in conducting work

of

common i n t e r e s t .

These g e n e ra l d i re c ti v es will be r e f l e c t e d

in

the

m o r e

detai led d e s c r i p t i o n

of the work t h a t has b e e n done.


4/16

- 2 -

Mapping out

the

actual r e s e a r c h p r o g r a m

for

the Fellowship

presented

some

difficulty, part ly because the task was a new one. As

the e a r l y work

progressed,

however , a r e a s of possible r e s e a r c h

b e

came m o r e apparent and

the

p r o g r a m began

to

take

shape.

An at tempt was made during both te r m s to in clu de

projects

with possible l o n g - t e r m

benefi ts as

well as those

where

m o r e

im

mediate

r e t u r n s

might be expec ted. There

was

a r e a l effort ,

also,

to s t r i k e

a balanc e

among

s t ructura l ,

sheet

metal ,

and

specia l

products

i n t e r e s t s .

Where possible ,

studies

were e ith er p r o g r e s s i v e

or

some

how related to e ac h o th er so

as

to integrate the

r e s e a r c h

program.

No

c l e a r

dividing

l ine

can be drawn

between

the

work

of

the

two

Fellowship t e r m s .

Much

that

was

done d urin g the second t e r m was an

outgrowth or

continuation of

work init iated during the

f i r s t t e r m .

E s

sent ial ly

the

r e s e a r c h

p r o g r a m was developed by the Fellow

in

consul

tation with his

DBR/NRC

colleagues as the ir ex pe rie nce and

com

petence

in

th e f ie ld of f i r e behaviour of s tee l

increased.

Objectives

The objectives

of

the work were not a t f i r s t def ined beyond

stating that i t

should

lead to

a

bet ter understanding of

the

behaviour of

s t e e l under f i r e condit ions.

As

t ime went on , however,

projects

were

channeled

in

to

one or m o r e of the following objectives:

1)

to indicate

new

or

m o r e

efficient

uses of s t e e l

in f ir e r es is ti ve

assemblies ;

2) to

help solve

some

of the

m o r e urgent

problems facing

the

industry;

3)

to f u r t h e r generally the development of the field of f i r e technology;

4)

to

demonstra te the

application

of r e c e n t

r e s e a r c h

(at DBR/NRC

or

e ls ewhere) in design, product development and f ir e t e st data i n t e r

pretat ion;

5)

to enc ou rage app li ca tion of existing

f i r e

technology to

building

de

sign problems;

6)

to

p rovide dat a and r e s e a r c h to improve the technical content of

the

National Building

Code

and Supp lemen t No .2 ;

7) to

make

a l l the work p a r t of an in tegrated

r e s e a r c h

program.

The m o r e

detai led

descript ion of the

work that

follows

has

been

d iv ided into three

sections: long - t e r m

proj ec ts,

s h o r t - t e r m proj ects,

miscel laneous

p r o j e c t s .

t

w ill be apparent

that

many of the

projects

a r e

open-ended, that

work

on

them can be

continued

or

expanded

a l m o s t

indefinitely.


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A few a r e relat ively c l e a n - c u t and related to a specific p ro blem o r a r e a

of

i n t e r e s t . Where app r op r ia te,

possible

a r e a s

fo r fu tu re r e s e a r c h

a r e

indicated.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

A

number

of

basic

and

applied

r e s e a r c h p ro je c ts r el at ed

to

the

behaviour

of

load-bearing m e m b e r s under

f i r e condi ti ons have

been

undertaken. Because work on such

projects

is a

continuing

effor t

and

because

the

r e s u l t s

of

s uch e ff or t will find p r a c t i c a l application only

over a

period

of

s e v e r a l y

ea

r s,

these

studies have been grouped

under

the genera l heading of

1110ng-term

p r o j e c t s .

Creep Studies

Initially, i t

was

n e c e s s a r y to understand the

basic

mechanisms

involved in the deformation of

load-bearing

s t e e l

elements

exposed

to

f i r e .

As

T. Z. Harmathy, a

r e s e a r c h

officer

of

the F i r e Sec ti

on,

had

done work in this a r e a before

the

Fellowship was established, i t was

decided

that

the

Fellow

should develop c r e e p t e s t

data

for

commonly

used s t r u c t u r a l steel .

Tests

were c a r r i e d out and

the

data

c o r r e l a t e d

for an ASTM A-36 s t e e l (formerly used to a

g r e a t

extent in

f i r e

t e s t

assemblies) and a CSA G40. 12 steel . F r o m a p r a c t i c a l point

of

view

these studies have so f a r

yielded

the

following

information:

1,

a

mechanical

explanation

and

analysis

for

the

deflection

and

fai lure

of

s t e e l supported

assemblies ;

2. technical

background

and support for use

of the

c r i t i c a l t e m p e r a t u r e

concept for

the

fa i lure

of

s t e e l loadbearing members ;

3. demons tr at ed that t e m p e r a t u r e is the m o s t important single

var iable

a ff ec ti ng the behaviour

of

s tee l in

fi re;

that i s,

the

l imitat ions in

corporated in the ASTM Standard E-119 a r e applicable to a l l

types

of

s t e e l now used in building construction;

4.

CSA

G40. 12

s tee l

has

c re e p p r o pe rt ie s

super ior

to

those

of

an

ASTM A-36

s tee l

and exh ib it a correspondingly

higher

c r i t i c a l

t em

p e r a t u r e

a t

fai lure under f i r e t e st .

The

c r e e p studies have o the r imp li ca tion s

that

may be exp lo it ed in

the

future .

F o r exarnpl

e, if

design of s t r u c t u r a l f i r e protect ion shoul.d,

in the

futur

e, be based on a m o r e ra t ional scientif ic

b a s i s

than

i t now

is ,

i t

will

be pos sible to calculate

the

c r i t i c a l t e m p e r a t u r e s

of

the elements

in a

s t r u c t u r e

and to determine the amoun t of Ins ula.tfon, i

any,

required.

I t

may also

be

possible

to

t ake advant age

of

the

super ior

c r e e p

p r o p e r t i e s exhibited by c e r t a i n s tee ls in that they may

be assigned

a higher

c r i t i c a l

t e m p e r a t u r e than other s tee ls with a s i m i l a r yield

s t r e s s .


6/16

- 4 -

Another example of the application of c r e e p

theory

would include

the analysis of cable-supported s t r u c t u r e s and

a s s e m b l i e s and

other types

of s t r u c t u r a l

sys tems

coming i nto use.

These exampl es i nd ic a te

that the

methods so f a r

developed

using

c r e e p

theory

add

very considerably

to

the too ls

avai lable

to

the

engineer

in analysing building s t r u c t u r e s e xpos ed to

f i r e

condit ions. t is hoped

th at th os e responsib le for the design of bui ld ings wi ll make i n c r e a s e d use

of them

as

t ime goes on.

Column R e s e a r c h P r o g r a m

Building

columns

a r e

general ly the m o s t

c r i t i c a l

m e m b e r s

of a

building s t r u c t u r e , not only because of

the vital

function they p e r f o r m

s t r u c t u r a l l y

but

also because they

may

be e xpose d to f i r e

on four

sides.

As a resul t , in protected s t e e l construct ion a heavier insulation is

u su ally s pe cif ie d f or

the columns

than

for

the

rema inde r

of

the

s t r u c t u r e .

Realizing th at s ec tio n g eomet ry

and

m a s s

have a

consider ab le in

fluence

on the f i r e enduring qual i t ies of a column with a given

insulation,

appeared

that

r e s e a r c h

in this

a r e a

might le ad to

economies

in con

struct ion. A r a t h e r comprehensive

column r e s e a r c h p r o g r a m has

therefore

been under ta ke n under th e F ellowship .

The stud y so f a r

compr i se s

the

following

stages:

1) A thorough

review

and

analysis

of

the l i t e r a t u r e

in

the field

has been

made

(1).

This has indicated

that

heavy

column

sect ions

c an p rovid e

substant ial

f i r e endurance with relat ively

l ight protect ion.

t was de

c id ed th at verification of this

finding

by an exper imenta l p r o g r a m

would

b e u se fu l.

2)

In o r d e r

to

fi l l gaps in

f i r e t e s t data t ha t b ec ame

evident in

Supplement

No.2 to

the

National Building Code of Canada a

s e r i e s

of eight

f i r e t e s t s was

c a r r i e d

out on

wide-flange

columns protected with

gypsum-sanded

p l a s t e r . The

column

c r o s s - s e c t i o n s were v a r i e d to

provide some in

c idental in fo rmat ion re la t ing

to th e inf luence of size and shape

on

f i r e

endurance . The r e s u l t s have

been

submit ted to the F i r e

Tes t

Board

f or i nc lu sion in a

revis ion

of

Supplement

No.2 .

3)

A

s e r i e s of e ight col umn

tes ts

designed specifically to

demonst ra te

the

influence of

column

size and shape on f i r e

endurance was c a r r i e d

out. A s ing le t hi cknes s of a given protect ive

m a t e r i a l

was

used for

a l l the c olumn s,

which

comprised hollow square and r ec ta ngu la r a s

well

as

wide-flange sect ions. The r e s u l t s confirm the predict ion tha t

for m o s t protect ive m a t e r i a l s the f i r e endurance of c olumn s c an be

re la ted by a

relat ively simple

mathematical

equation. Neither

the

scope nor

the

l imitat ions of the method

have yet

been

complete ly

studied,

however.


7/16

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The f i r e

t e s t

data d ev elo ped in these t e s t s a l s o h av e u se fu l

irrunediate

applicat ion

in that the

m a t e r i a l

tes ted i s

sold

and

used in C anada. t

will

be publ is hed through the

r e g u l a r

DBR/NRC channe ls a t a fu tu re d ate .

4) To d e t e r m i n e fully

the scope

and

l imitat ions

of the

method

of

c o r r e l a t i n g

column

f i r e

endurance,

a

l a r g e

log

of

t e s t

data

i s

r e q u i r e d .

The

a s

sembly

and analysis of publ ished and unpublished f i r e t e s t data is

t h e r e

f o r e under way. Much of t he unpub li shed data will b e su pp lie d

by

the

AlSI

through one of the sponsored

p r o j e c t s

a t U n d e r w ri te rs L a b or a

t o r i e s Inc .

Steps

(1) to (4) were

undertaken

in

consultat ion

with

the

Fel low

ship Commit tee .

Some a dd itio na l work s e e m s a dvisa ble , fo r example:

5) A

compilat ion

of the f i r e t e s t

data

a s s e m b l e d under (4) in a f o r m

m o s t useful

to

those engaged in build ing p r a c t i c e .

6) Repet i t ion

of t e st s er ie s

as d e s c r i b e d

in (3)

as

t ime p e r m i t s , using

n o n - p r o p r i e t a r y m a t e r i a l s

for possible

inclusion

in Supplement

No.2

to the

National Building

Code.

7) Invest igat ion of l ight-weight or thin protect ive

m a t e r i a l s

sui table for

appl ica t ion

on

heavy sect ions.

F i r e

Development

and Severi ty

Because

of

the exis tence of the s tandard f i r e test , this bas ic and

impor tant

p a r t

of

f i r e r e s e a r c h

has

unti l

r e c e n t l y

r e ce ived l it tl e at tent ion

in N orth A m e r i c a .

S e v e r a l

studies have shown that in m o s t modern build

ings the

c o u r s e of

the

f i r e and the t e m p e r a t u r e s at tained b e a r

l i t t l e

r e

semblance

to

the

s ta nda rd cu rve .

Continued

r e s e a r c h

in th is a r ea

now

under

way a t DBR/NRC and e lsewhere in the world

will probably

r e s u l t

in new and di f fe rent ways

of

approaching building

f i r e

p r o b l e m s .

This type of r e s e a r c h should be of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t

to

the s t e e l

industry s ince the

behaviour

of s t e e l in f i r e is so dependent

on i ts

t e m p e r

ature ,

as has

been

demonst ra ted by

c r e e p s tud ies c a r r i e d

out

a t

DBR/NRC.

When asked, therefore , to

co-

opera te

with Dr. Harmathy

in

c a r r y i n g out

some

of

the exper imenta l furnace

t e s t s

a s s o c i a t e d with these new concepts ,

the Fel low a g r e e d initially

to

conduct fou r beam t e s t s on identical ly

con

s t r u c t e d spec imens exposed

to

f i r e s of

varying

s e v e r i t y in the f loor furnace .

P r o te c ti o n i n c o rp o r a te s

a

s h e e t

s t e e l membrane , p a r t of another p r o j e c t

d e s c r i b e d

under

Short -

T e r m P r o j e c t s .

The ul t imate scope of the work and

i ts impl ic at io ns

cannot

yet be

a s s e s s e d .

There is l i t t le doubt, however ,

that

the F i r e R e s e a r c h Sect ion

and

the

Division

will continue

to

s t r i v e for m o r e

r e a l i s t i c

design and

evaluat ion methods i n bui ld ing construct ion. This being the case, the s t e e l

indus t ry

should welcome

part ic ipat ion

through

the

Fellowship

and in

this

way

keep

up to date on

this potentially

f a r - reaching deve lopment .


8/16

- 6 -

SHORT-TERM

PROJECTS

The s h o r t - t e r m r e s e a r c h projects undertaken general ly fall into

the category of applied r e s e a r c h . They

a r e

usua ll y open -ended in that

work can be

expanded a t any t ime,

but

they

may

also be terminated a t

different stages,

leaving

a

reasonably complete

and

useful

r e c o r d .

Shee t S te el

Membrane Protect ion

This p r o j e c t was initiated by the

Fel low dur ing

his f i r s t t e r m

and

considerably expanded in the second. The principle

behind

this

method

of

protect ion r e s t s on the fact

that

any protect ive rrrerrib

r

an et

s

m o s t vital

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c is

i ts

ability to

remain in place when

sub

jected to

fire,

something

the shee t

s t e e l membrane does

v e r y

we l l ,

Ini t ia l

work

involved

s m a l l - scale and

beam f i r e

t e s t s to check

the feasibi l i ty of

the

concept . It was expanded in the second t e r m to

include

two

f i r e t e s t s on s t e e l columns

protected

by a

shee t

s t e el m e m

brane backed by inexpensive and non-propr ie tary

insulating

m a t e r i a l s .

A

shee t s t e e l membrane a ls o fo rm s the ba si c p ro te ct ion

for

beams to

be

tested in

connection

with

f i r e

severity, as

has

al ready

been ment ioned.

Two addi t ional t e s t s involving an

economical

and quickly assembled

sheet s t e e l

column cover

and

protect ive

membrane

a r e in

p r o g r e s s .

These

were designed

to

yield

a 2 -h r rating,

using only

generic m a t e r i a l s .

The

ClSCC

Industry R e s e a r c h Subcommit tee , of which th e Fellow is a

member ,

has been kep t i nformed

of p r o g r e s s

on

this p r o j e c t and plans to fur ther i ts

p r a c t i c a l implementat ion.

Mr.

L. Seigel of

United S ta te s S te el

has

appl ied the sheet s t e e l

membrane p rot ec ti on

concept

by using sheet s tee l as a radiat ion b a r r i e r ,

p ro te c ti ng the

exter ior f langes

of

spandre l beams. The f i r s t major p r o

j e c t

incorporat ing

this p a r t i c u l a r application is

th e Unite d

States Stee l

Office s k y s c r a p e r in

New York

City.

Attending a s k y s c r a p e r f i r e i nves ti ga ti on in Mon tr ea l, the Fellow

obs er ved th at spread of f i r e

f rom one

floor to

the

next had been p reven ted

by the

radiat ion

b a r r i e r

the

shee t

s t e e l

i nduct ion un it s

provided

a t

the

curtain wall. This

was

an unexpected

application

by the

a r c h i t e c t

of the

sheet

s t e e l rnarnb

r

an

e

protect ion concept .

Future r e s e a r c h could m o r e fully explore the

possibi l i t ies

and ap

plications of sheet

s t e e l as

a

pro tec tive radiat ion b a r r i e r against

f i r e .

F o r example , the effect iveness of a

shee t s tee l back-up for the

t h e r m a l in

sulation requi red be tween f loor and curtain wall a t the e x t e r i o r of mult i

s t o r e y buildings to

inhibit

the

v e r t i c a l

spread of f i r e could be invest igated.


9/16

As

deve lopm.en t and

acceptance of this protect ion m.ethod lead to

increased

use

of

s t e e l in building construct ion,

i t

should be

regarded

by

the

in du st ry a s one

of the

m.ost

im.portant

proj ects in hand.

Mem.brane Protect ion

A com.prehensive s tudy

of

m.em.brane

protect ion incorporat ing

m.aterials

other

than

shee t

s tee l has

been a

continuing p r o j e c t

u nde r the

Fellow ship. This

work

is im.portant

because

m.em.brane

protect ion

i s

one of the

m.ost

econom.ical m.ethods of insulating a s t r u c t u r a l

s t e e l

rnernb e r or

assem.bly.

The study com.p ri se s t he following:

1) l abora tory

determ.ination of

the

t he rm.a l and physical p r o p e r t i e s

of

s e v e r a l

com.m.only used

protect ive

m.aterials;

2) num.erical analysis

of

heat flow through l ayer construct ions;

3)

com.pilation

of published

and

unpublished f i r e t e s t data;

4) sm.al l-scale f i r e

t e s t s

on assem.blies protected by a gypsum.

board

m.em.brane;

5) sm.al l-scale f i r e t e s t s with an asbes tos-cem.ent

board

to

evaluate

the effect of ceil ing openings on f i r e endurance.

Inform.ation i s be ing ass em.b led

in

a r e p o r t

on

the sta te of the

a r t in m.em.brane

protect ion

and as a r e f e r e n c e for the technologies in-

volved

in

i ts

proper application.

The r e p o r t should

be of considerable

p r a c t i c a l

use

for

the

Div is ion and

the

s t e e l

industry

i n dea li ng with

design

or fie ld

problem.s involving this type of protect ion.

Com.posite

Action

With increasing use of s t e e l - c o n c r e t e com.positely designed s t r u c

t u r a l m.em.bers, com.posite action becam.e an i tem of invest igat ion and r e

s e a r c h under

the

Fellowship. n

co-operat ion

with

Mr. N.

S. P e a r c e

of

U n d e r w r i t e r s Labora tor ies

of

Canada, a paper (2 ) was published

showing

tha t m.ost s t e e l supported f loo r assem.b li es subjected to

f i r e t e s t

exhibit

a consi de r ab l e deg re e

of

com.posite

action not contem.plated in the design.

Mr. P e a r c e and the

Fel low

have agreed to con ti nue wo rk on this

topic

and

to p r e p a r e an add iti onal r e p o r t on

the

f i r e

behaviour of

com.positely

designed s t r u c t u r e s , using inform.a tion based on t e s t

data

developed a t ULC

and DBR /NRC . The r e p o r t should help to reduce t he d i ff icu lt ie s repor tedly

encountered in assigning f i r e ra t ings and protect ion m.ethods to com.positely

designed s t r u c t u r e s .

Heat Sink

This stu dy was designed to

provide

experim.ental

support

for the

c r i t i c a l

tem.perature

concept

of the

fai lure

of

s t e e l

beam.s

and to show

that

the

h ea t sin k e ffe ct

of the deck does not signif icantly

affect c r i t i c a l tem.perature.

Dr.

Ha

rrna thy and

the Fellow co-opera ted

in this work.


10/16

- 8 -

The p r o j e c t was

undertaken

because of

ant icipated

possible changes

in the t e s t standard ASTM E-119

to

include t e m p e r a t u r e

l imi ts

for

fa i lure

c r i t e r i a .

t was considered that

inclusion

of

the

heat

sink

of the deck

in

fa i lure c r i t e r i a

would be

unnecessar i ly

compl icated

and

not technical ly

just i f iable. The r e s u l t s of exper imenta l and theoret ical

work

(3 )

showed

that hea t s ink e ff ec t should

not be included

in

assigning

t e m p e r a t u r e

for

the revised

s tandard. This posit ion was

accepted

by

those responsible for

the standard and

no

fur ther work in this

a r e a

is

contemplated.

P a r t i a l l y Protec ted Steel Struc tures

Because the s t r u c t u r a l

fa i lure

of s t e e l exposed to f i r e

i s

such a

t e m p e r a t u r e

dependent

process ,

and becau se a ct ua l f i r e s o ft en develop

much m o r e rapidly

than standard

furnace f ir e, the idea of protect ing

only

the

m o s t

c r i t i c a l l y

heated

and s t r e s s e d p a r t s of a s t r u c t u r e appears

to have m e r i t . t should

be emphas iz ed

that the r e a l concern in

building

design

is

whether

a

s t r u c t u r e can r e s i s t

a

r e a l

f ire ,

not

one

in the t e s t

furnace.

A joisted f loor assembly with

only

the

bott om chords

protected

by insulat ing m a t e r i a l (web

and

top chords exposed) was

constructed

and

subjected

to f i r e t e s t . The r e s u l t s show that p a r t i a l protection

provides

subs tan ti al improvement

over unprotected

construction h r

vs

about

10

min)

and may

p rov ide adequate protection in c e r t a i n types

of buildings.

As North

American building

codes do not recognize

a

i - h r

f i r e endurance,

no

fur ther work will

be

undertaken in th is a r e a a t this

t ime. The

abili ty

of

buildings thus

protected to r e s i s t

f i re ,however ,

would in m o s t

c a s e s

const i tute

a conside rab le improvemen t

over un

protected

s t e e l

const ruct ion.

MISCELLANEOUS PROJECTS

Technical

Translat ion

In

1969 the

Swiss Centre for Stee l Const ruc ti on published

a

technical document ent it led liThe Calculation of the

F i r e Resis tance

of

Steel

Const ruct ions.

t d e s c r i b e s methods that

enable

the

engineer

to

calculate

the appropr ia te

protect ion (if any) for s t e e l s t r u c t u r e s . This

information

has been t r a n s l a t e d and is

now avai lable

(4). t may

be

ob

tained f r o m DBR/NRC.

The

methods a r e based on the f i r e load concept. F i r e

load

is taken

as the

dominant

variable which the

s tr uc tu re m u s t

be

able to

r e s i s t in

c a s e

of

an

ignition.

On

this

bas is

the

design

of

a

f i r e r e s i s t a n t

s t r u c t u r e

proceeds

according

to well

known

principles of hea t t r a n s f e r and

s t r u c

t u r a l

behaviour .

The

significance

of the

document,

which has been a c

cep ted in t he bui ld ing r egu la ti on s for

the C anton of

Zur ic h, Sw it ze rl and,

is

that

the

design


f i r e

protection is placed d i r e c t l y in the

hands

of the

s t r u c t u r a l

design

engineer . Thus

i t

becomes

possible

to base

design procedures

on

scientific and engineering principles r a t h e r than on


11/16

- 9 -

a r b i t r a r y decis ions

based

on

p a s t experience and guesswork.

Unit

Masonry /

Drywall

COITlbinations

This i s an experiITlental pr og r am designed

to d ev elo p

f i r e

ra t ings

and

sound

tr-ansrni s s i.on

class i f ica t ions

for concrete

rna

s

on

r y walls in

c

ornbinat i

on

with

gypSUITl

board. The

Info rrria.t i.on i s intended

for use

in

Supp ern

errt No.2 to the

National Building

Code.

The p r oj ec

t is

a

F i r e

Section venture , but the

exp

e r

irnerita.l

work

i s being planned

and supervised

by L.

W.

Allen, another

indust ry Fellow,

and by

Stanzak

in view of

the i r

c ornb in ed experience with construction of

this type. Sta.nzakt

s i n t e r e s t

in the

work

r e l a t e s to

the

rrrecharric

a I

fastening

and behaviour

of the gyp

sum

board, a rna

te

r ia I

he

has exam ined

v e r y thoroughly.

Education

Providing

educational

rna

te r ia l for those engaged in the construction

industry is one

of

the irnpor tant functions of DBR/NRC.

F o r

the F i r e Section

this

function

is

even

m or e

irripo

r tan t

because

f i r e

technology

as

i t

r e l a t e s

to building design is not yet

taught

a t

the

universi t ies or col leges . Mernb e r s

of t he Sec ti on , therefore, have

a t ternpted

to Infor rn

people

of their

work

through ta lks or

l e c t u r e s wher ever pos si bl e

or appropriate . As the

under

standing

of

f i r e t echno logy arnong those

responsible

for building

i n c r e a s e s ,

t echni ca l advances

can be rriad

e rno r e rapidly.

Unfortunately, the

field

of f i r e technology has not y et d ev elop ed into

a

discipl ine that

can be taught

in

a s

irnpl

e

and order ly way. There is b uild

ing, however ,

a fund

of informa ti.on and any at tempts

to r egirrient

i t should

be

we Ic orned , SOITle of

the

work under

the

Fellowship

therefore has in

cluded

writ ing

of papers to educate and a s s i s t

those

engaged in

building

design or product d

ev

e l oprnerrt 5, 6). t is

hoped tha t as

t.irrre goes on

i t

will

be

possible

to

a s s errib l e known i.nforrnat ion

and

technology in rno r e

c

ornpa.c t and readily understandable f orm.

Others

A

variety of

other a r e a s

of

r e s e a r c h

and

invest igat ions

a r e con

stant ly under

study. For

e

xarrip

l e, laboratory

tests

a re c ar ri e d out on a

srna Il scale on rnate r i a.Ls

and

rn e thod s that appear

p a r t i c u l a r l y

sui table

for

the protection

of s t e e l

constructions. t was through one of these

that

the shee t

s t e e l rnernb r ane project , one

of

the

rn

o s t irnpor tant in

the

p r og r arri,

c

arrre

i nto being .

t has b

ec

orne

c l e a r

that a g r e a t deal can be learned

f

r orn

observation

of

building

f i r e s .

The

Fellow

has

at tended

those

considered

to

be

of

i n t e r e s t

whenever pos

sible

and

will

continue

to do

so.

Findings

rnu

s

t

often r

erna

in

confidential

owing

to possible legal p r

ob

l ern s ,

but

they

provide

a valuable

log

of evidence.


12/16

- 10 -

Finally,

as a member

of the F i r e

Section

the

Fellow

a s s i s t s

with

inquiries, f i r e

tes ts ,

and

design

of

labora tory equipment .

F o r example,

he i s designing loading equipment

sui table

for

testing

beams in th e flo or

furnace,

and has been involved with the instal lat ion

of

equipment to

m e a s u r e

heat

inputs and

l o s s e s

from the

furnaces

as well as

other m i s

cellaneous equipment .

CONCLUSION

To say t ha t c hanges and advances in f i r e technology over the p a s t

ten y ea rs s ur p as s

those of

the

previous

fifty i s

no

exaggeration.

The

work associa ted with the

Fellowship

has con tr ib ut ed noti ce ab ly to this

pic ture .

A

few i l lustrat ions

follow.

n 1964

the only

means of a s s e s s i n g

the f i r e

endurance of a s t r u c

ture

or

assembly

design

was

the

standard

f i r e

endurance

te st . There

was l i t t le

t echni ca l da ta to support p roposed

changes from a t e s t assembly

and the c r i t e r i a

for

interpolat ion of t e s t

data

were v ir tu al ly non-exis tent .

Now, as a

r e s u l t of

the

c r e e p

studies,

i t has become poss ib le

to

calculate

the f i r e endurance of c e r t a i n s t r u c t u r e s and a s s e m b l i e s .

As

temperature ,

not

s t r e s s ,

is

the dominant variable , substi tut ions of one

type

of

s t e e l

for

another

in

a t e s t assembly can be a s s e s s e d on a ra t ional b a s i s . F i r e

t e s t methods

and build ing

design

may also change in the future,

as with

the

introduction

of

new t i m e - t e m p e r a t u r e curves

or hea t

input

r a t e s .

Engineer ing me thods now have the

capabil i ty

to cope

with such even tua li ti es .

Turning to co lumn protect ion , i t

i s not uncommon to

find heavy

m e m b e r s provided with enough insulat ion to yield a f i r e endurance of from

4

to

8

h r where only two a r e specif ied.

Now,

through

a

special ly designed

s e r i e s

of f i r e

t e s t s and support ing work

can

be shown how

the f i r e

r e

s is tance

of a column v a r i e s with

i ts m a s s

and

shape;

the difference for two

columns ident ical ly

protected

can be

over 4

hr.

Once

these

findings

a r e

applied

to building

design

the economies gained

for

s tee l const ruct ion should

be considerable.

The

Fellow has

made presentat ions based

on

his

r e s e a r c h e s

to

the

F i r e T e s t Board and

his

recommendat ions

a r e

under considerat ion. n

addition,

he has work ed in

an advisory capacity

with

s e v e r a l

subcommit tees

of ASTM

and

CSA that a r e concerned with f i r e t e st

methods.

He has also

been ins t rumenta l in

promoting

co-opera t ion

with

U n d e r w r i t e r s Labora

t o r i e s of Canada

in

unifying

f i r e

t e s t p r a c t i c e and other m a t t e r s of c

orrirn

on

i n t e r e s t .

F in ally , th ro ugh his p r e s e n c e a t

DBR /NRC he

has been able to

provide a s s i s t a n c e

to

m e m b e r s

of the

s t e e l indust ry

faced with f i r e

p r o

tect ion problems. Although t hese ac ti vi ti es a r e not normal ly publicized,

they

a r e

of

considerable importance

and

should not

go

unnoted.

n

concluding this

background

paper, i t is a pp ropr ia te

to

emphasize

the amount of

f i r e

t e s t work that has been done

in

connection with

the

Fellowship. A

tabulation of ful l -scale

t e s t s

is

included in Appendix A.


13/16

- 11 -

These a bout e qu al

the

number of a l l o th er f ull- s c a l e f i r e

t e s t s

(sponsored

and r e s e a r c h ) conducted a t DBR/NRC sinc

e

1964, when the Fel lowship

was init iated.

REFERENCES

1.

Stanzak,

W.

W.

The Beh av io ur

of

Stee l

Columns

a t

Elevated

T e m p e r a t u r e s .

National R e s e a r c h Counci l of Canada, Division of Building Research ,

DBR

I n t e r n a l

Repor t

No. 351, M a r c h

1968.

2. P e a r c e ,

N. S.

and W.

W. Stanzak. Load

and F i r e T e s t Data

on Stee l

Supported F loo r As s emb li es . ASTM Speci al Techn ic a l Publ ic a ti on

422,

1967, p.

5 -

20 (NRC 9932).

3. Stanzak, W. W. and T. Z.

Harm athy. Effect of

Deck on

F a i l u r e

T e m p e r

a t u r e of S te el B eams.

F i r e Technology , Vol. 4, No.4,

Nov. 1968,

p.

265

-

270 (NR

C

10523)

.

4.

The

Calcula t ion

of

the F i r e Resis tance of

Steel Cons truct ions .

Schweizer ische

Z e nt ra ls te ll e F u r Stahlbau, Zurich , 1969.

T r a n s

la ted

by W. W.

S tanzak , Nati on al

R e s e a r c h Counci l of Canada,

Division of Building Research , TT-1425,

Ottawa

1971.

5.

Stanza

k, W. W. F i r e

Endurance-

-Som

e

Design

Considerat ions.

Engineering Digest,

Apri l

1970. (NRC 11465).

6.

Stanzak, W. W.

P r o d u c t Development

and

F i r e

P e r f o r m a n c e . National

R e s e a r c h Council

of

Canada, Division

of Building Research , Build

ing

R e s e a r c h

Note No.

73,

Feb.

1971.


14/16

FIRE

TESTS SCHEDULED UNDER

STEEL INDUSTRIES

FELLOWSHIP

lNumber

Cos t

1

Notes

ype

P r o j

ect

Beam

C r e e p

4

20 , 000

1

C o m m e r c i a l

t e s t

fee (does not include

construction of specimen)

Column

Supp.

No.2

8

24 ,

000

Typical

floor

sect ion

was i nc lu ded

Beam

Supp

,

No.2

3

15, 000

3

Sheet

s te e l membrane

2

Beam

Supp ,

No.2

1

5,

000

4

P a r t i a l l y protected s te e l s t ru c t ur e s

Membrane

P r o t

Beam

SSM

3

2

10, 000

5

SSMprotection

Beam

Heat

Sink

3

15, 000

6

To

check

f i r e

endurance

of a m a s s i v e ex

posed s te e l column

Column

SSM

2

6, 000

PPSS

4

7

SSM protection

F l o o r

1

5, 000

Beam

F i r e Severi ty5

4

20 ,

000

Column

Size

and Shape

7

21, 0 00

Column

Exposed

6

1

3,

000

Column

SSM

7

2 6, 000

Tota ls

38

150,000


15/16

APPENDIX B

LIST

OF

PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS

Publica t ions

1. Stanzak,

W.

W. The behaviour

of

steel i n bui ld ing f i r e s . National

R e s e a r c h

Council of Canada, D iv isio n of Building

Research .

DBR

Bibliography No. 30. Apri l 1965.

16p.

2. Galbreath, M. and W.

W.

Stanzak. F i r e

endurance

of

protected

s t e e l

columns and beams . National R e s e a r c h

Council of

Canada.

Division

of Building Research.

NRC 8379,

Apri l 1965,

61p.

3. Stanzak, W.

W.

F i r e t e s t s on wide -f lange

s t e e l beams

protected with

Gypsum-sanded p l a s t e r . National R e s e a r c h

Council of

Canada.

Division

of Building Research.

NRC

9474,

June

1967, 23p.

4.

Stan

zak,

W. W.

F ir e t e s t on

a

wide-flange

s t e e l beam pro te ct ed

with

a

one-inch

gypsum-sanded

p l a s t e r suspended

ceiling membrane .

National

R e s e a r c h

Council of Canada,

Division

of

Building Research ,

NRC 9761. Dec. 1967, 33p.

5. S tanzak, W. W. F i r e t e s t s of eight

wide-flange

steel

columns

protected

with gypsum- sanded p l a s t e r . National

R e s e a r c h Council of

Canada.

Division

of Building Research, NRC 9768. Jan. 1968, 24p.

6.

P e a r c e , N.

S. and W. W.

Stanzak.

Load and

f i r e t e s t data

on

s t e e l

support ed f loo r

a s s e m b l i e s . ASTM 422,

August 1967,

p . 5 - 2 0

(NRC 9932).

7.

Harmathy,

T.

Z .

and W. W. Stanzak. E l e v a t e d - t e m p e r a t u r e

tensi le

and

c re e p p ro p er ti es of

some s t r u c t u r a l

and p r e s t r e s s i n g steel .

ASTM

STP

464. 1970, p.

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Sheet

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1964-1967. National

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meta l

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Expo temporary buildings.

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Stanzak,

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Calibrat ion

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W. Behaviour


steel in fi re; r e p o r t

of

a

symposi um held a t the F i r e R e s e a r c h Station, Boreham Wood,

England, 24 January

1967. Technical

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4.

Stanzak,

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W. Tempera tu re

measurement :

a l t e r n a t e t e s t of f i r e

protection for s tr u c tu r a l s te e l

columns.

National R e s e a r c h Council

of

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538,

June 1969, 6p.

SPX

Reports

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Stanzak, W. W. Place Victoria f i r e . National

R e s e a r c h

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Jan.

1970,

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2. Berndt,

E. and E. O. Por teous . F i r e tes ts

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National R e s e a r c h

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Technical

Transla t ions

1. The

Calculat ion

of the F i r e

Resis tance

of Steel Constructions.

Schweizer ische Zentrals tel le F u r

Stahlbau,

Zurich,

1969.

T r a n s

1ated

by W.

W.

Stanzak,

National

R e s e a r c h

Council of

Canada,

Division of

Building

Research, TT-1425, Ottawa

1971.

ir-396 shorter steel industry work

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