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Structural Fire Protection: Common Questions Answered

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Structural Fire Protection: Common Questions Answered Structural Fire Protection common questions answered Got questions about fire protection? Farid Alfawakhiri Check out this Christopher Hewitt Robert Solomon handyguide! tear-out AISC engineers and a representative from the NFPA provide answers to questions about the materials, components and systems designed to provide life safety and structural integrity during fires. December 2002 • Modern Steel Construction What is a fire load? Where do What is “thermal mass”? combustibles, the size of the room and fire loads primarily come from Thermal mass is used sometimes ventilation conditions. In larger rooms, in buildings? for effective specific heat or heat ca- the time to flashover will usually be Fire loads account for all com- pacity. Effective specific heat in longer. In well-ventilated large prem- bustible building contents, including fur- Btu/(lb°F) is the amount of energy, per ises, like open parking garages and nishings, equipment, and combustible unit mass of material, required to raise large atriums, flashover is unlikely. construction components. Most of a the temperature of the material by one Flashover is also unlikely to occur in building’s fire load results from contents temperature unit. Similarly, effective- sprinklered premises. that have been introduced after the heat capacity in Btu/(ft3°F) is the construction is complete. The fire load amount of energy, per unit volume of Where can one find the thermal is usually expressed in terms of the material, required to raise the tempera- conductivity or thermal resist- “wood-equivalent” weight of com- ture of the material by one temperature ance values of different fire-pro- bustible building contents per unit build- unit. For most construction materials, tective materials? ing-floor area in psf. The actual weight specific heat and heat capacity values A good source is the third edition of combustible contents is adjusted to (as well as thermal conductivity values) (2002) of the SFPE Handbook of the wood-equivalent weight based on are temperature dependent. This Fire Protection Engineering by the So- the estimated potential heat of contents means that these values change in the ciety of Fire Protection Engineers normalized to the potential heat of temperature range associated with (www.sfpe.org). For some materials, in- wood (8000 Btu/lb). Alternatively, the building fires (50°F to 1800°F), be- formation might be unavailable. fire load could be expressed in terms of cause many materials undergo physic- the potential heat of building contents ochemical changes at elevated What is the meaning of “fire re- per unit building-floor area in Btu/ft2. temperatures. These thermal proper- sistant”? Is it the same thing as ties are also sensitive to the testing “fireproof”? How fast does a conventional method used, and different sources list Fire resistance is the ability of build- fire spread? varying values of material properties for ing components and systems to per- The rate at which a fire spreads and the same material. form fire-separating and/or load- grows in a building depends on many bearing functions under fire exposure. factors: What is a heat sink? Where are Fire-resistant building components and ■ the combustion properties of the they found? systems are those with specified fire- construction materials A heat sink refers to anything ab- resistance ratings based on fire-resist- ■ building furnishings and contents sorbing large amounts of heat through ance tests. These ratings, expressed in ■ ventilation conditions physical and/or chemical processes. minutes and hours, describe the time ■ room geometry and configuration Materials containing large amounts of duration for which given building com- ■ timely detection and effectiveness of chemically combined water in their ponents and systems maintain specific fire suppression response by occu- structure, like gypsum or concrete, can functions while exposed to simulated pants and/or firefighters form heat sinks.They absorb significant fire events. Various test protocols de- ■ availability and effectiveness of au- amounts of heat due to the energy con- scribe the procedures to evaluate the tomatic fire detection and suppres- sumed in the water-evaporation performance of doors, windows, walls, sion systems process. Materials with high thermal floors, beams and columns. ■ availability and effectiveness of fire conductivity and high effective-heat ca- The term fireproof is a misnomer— barriers pacity will also act as heat sinks. Mate- nothing is truly fireproof. All construc- rials with low thermal conductivity will tion materials, components and At what temperature does a reflect and not absorb heat. systems have limits and can be ir- typical fire burn? reparably damaged by fire. The duration and the maximum tem- What is flashover? perature of a fire in a building compart- Flashover is an abrupt transition Is steel a fire-resistant system ment depend on the amount and from the burning of a small number of or material? configuration of available combustibles, items in the room, or a small portion of Fire-resistance ratings are assigned ventilation conditions, properties of the the room, to full-room involvement in a to construction components and sys- compartment enclosure, and weather fire. Room-fire flashover is a state in tems, not materials. Materials are clas- conditions. The maximum temperature which all the combustible contents of sified for their combustion properties, of a fully developed building fire will the room experience a nearly simulta- and steel is non-combustible. Steel also rarely exceed 1800°F.The average gas neous ignition. Most fires never reach exhibits other valuable structural and temperature in a fully developed fire is flashover because they are extin- durability properties. It is used in many not likely to reach 1500°F. Tempera- guished before this can occur. Some fire-resistant building components and tures of fires that have not developed to fires self extinguish when the air supply systems, where load-bearing struc- post-flashover stage will not exceed is insufficient, or when the fire has a tural-steel members are insulated from 1000°F. low-enough energy source to prevent the thermal effects of a fire. ignition of multiple targets. The time to flashover depends on many factors, such as the properties of Modern Steel Construction • December 2002 What are spray-applied fire-pro- ■ Heat-absorbing physical reactions, compared to the bond strength of the tective materials made of? like transpiration, evaporation, sub- same fire-resistive material when ap- Spray-applied fire-protective materi- limation and ablation; or heat- plied to a clean, unpainted/ungalva- als fall into two broad categories: mineral absorbing chemical reactions, like nized steel-plate surface. Some AHJs fiber and cementitious. These materials endothermic decomposition and enforce similar requirements for galva- are based on proprietary formulations, pyrolysis nized surfaces. Producers of fire-resis- supplied in a dry form, and must be ■ Intumescence, the formation of a tive materials usually maintain a list of mixed and applied according to the thick foam upon heating “pre-approved” paints that have passed manufacturer’s recommendations. ■ Radiation or reflection. the ASTM E736 tests. They can advise The mineral-fiber mixture combines on the applicability of a product to gal- fibers, mineral binders, air and water. It How do intumescent painting vanized surfaces. Additional tests are is usually spray-applied. The dry mix- systems work? needed if a coated-steel surface is not ture of mineral fibers and binding An intumescent coating chars, pre-approved. If bond strength is found agents is fed to a spraying nozzle. foams and expands when heated. The unacceptable, a mechanical bond can Water is added to the mixture in the compounds of intumescent systems be obtained by wrapping the structural nozzle as it is sprayed onto the metal generally can be placed into four cate- member with expanded metal lath (min. surface. In its final, cured form, the min- gories: 1.7 lb/sq. yd). eral-fiber coating is lightweight, non- 1. inorganic acid or material yielding combustible, chemically inert and a an acid at temperatures of 212°F to How reliable are sprinkler sys- poor conductor of heat (a low thermal 570°F; tems? conductivity insulator). 2. polyhydric material rich in carbon; Sprinkler systems have proven to be Cementitious coatings incorporate 3. organic amine or amide, as a flow- effective and reliable when properly de- lightweight aggregates, like perlite or ing agent; and signed, installed and maintained. Strict vermiculite, in a heat-absorbing matrix 4. halogenated material. regulations in the United States enforce of gypsum and/or Portland cement. Various binders and additives are standard practices for sprinkler-system Some formulations also use magne- mixed in to provide specific physical inspection, test and maintenance pro- sium oxychloride, magnesium oxysul- properties of the total system. The sys- grams. The effectiveness of sprinkler- fate, calcium aluminate or ammonium tem often is made of several coats with system performance is noted in the sulfate. Various additives and foaming different functions. For example, a top- National Fire Protection Association’s agents can be added to the mixture. coat will provide a durable finish sur- (NFPA) annual report: “The NFPA has Cementitious coatings are often classi- face, while the base coat will provide a no record of a fire killing more than two fied by their density (as low,
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