- Author
-
Mahoney, J. E.
- Title
- Development of a Procedure for Construction of Barrier Performance Curves.
- Coporate
- Worcester Polytechnic Inst., MA
- Report
-
Thesis,
September 1995,
157 p.
- Keywords
-
barriers
|
construction
|
concretes
|
masonry
|
gypsum
|
wallboard
|
compartment fires
|
fire resistance tests
|
fire severity
|
fire safety
|
safety engineering
- Identifiers
- types of barrier failures; utilizing available test data for construction of standard performance curves; utilization of numerical models for construction of standard performance curves; converting standard performance curves to catalog performance curves for common theories of fire severity; construction of performance curves for various concrete aggregates; standard performance curves for various concrete aggregates; construction of performance curves for various concrete densities; standard performance curves for various concrete densities
- Abstract
- This thesis develops and examines two procedures from which barrier performance curves may be developed and constructed within the Building Firesafety Engineering Method (BFSEM). These procedures are developed for two common wall construction types, concrete masonry unit walls and gypsum wallboard assemblies. Either of these procedures may be adapted and implemented for other compartment boundary construction types for which adequate information is available. The first procedure, developed for concrete masonry unit wall, utilized available standard fire endurance test data as the basis for the construction of a series of standard time performance curves. Conversion of these curves into catalog curves allows for an easy and rapid evaluation of compartment boundaries based upon a number of available construction parameters. The second procedure, develop for gypsum wallboard assemblies, utilizes a numerical modeling technique to simulate the response of barriers exposed to a standard fire resistance test. The results of the simulation are used as the basis for construction of standard time performance curves. Conversion of the standard time curves into catalog curves provides a probabilistic determination of barrier performance. These two procedures are expanded by the use of a method which converts standard time curves into catalog curves for five separate theories of fire severity determination. All five of these theories are examined, compared, and reviewed from an analytical viewpoint. The conversion procedure allows for a comparison of barrier performance between the different methods of evaluating fire severity.