Performance-based structural fire engineering (PB SFE) is internationally a fast growing field ofengineering where the design of the fire protection strategy and structural detailing of a buildingis based on calculating the structure's behaviour under realistic fire scenarios. While currentpractice in the United States is primarily prescriptive in nature, performance based structural fireengineering is beginning to have an impact on building design particularly as architects conceivemore complex designs and engineers have an increased understanding of structural fire responsefrom the WTC collapse and more recently the Windsor tower fire in Madrid.Historically, the determination of structural fire resistance is established in a standard furnacetest. These standard tests have existed in the same form for over 100 years. The tests are anecessary part of our regulatory systems because they provide invaluable data on the relativeperformance of materials and small-scale assemblies in fire. However, the primary concern withprescriptive fire resistance ratings is the reliance on the assumption that a structural system testedat a relatively short span, in a furnace, can robustly translate into a basis for design at the scalerequired in real buildings where continuity, connections, alternative load paths, and restraint playa significant role in structural performance in fire.The concern with the reliance on these standard fire tests as a basis for design particularly asbuildings become larger and more complex, has led to the development of alternative designtechniques. Over several decades, various researchers have investigated the phenomenon of realstructural fire performance and developed various analytical methods for use in the designdomain.Through the use of PB SFE, the structure can be designed to resist a realistic fire with lessreliance on passive fire protection. The assessment allows the design engineer to check for anystructural design weaknesses/strengths in fire, to identify robust design features, to determine anoptimised passive fire protection strategy and if necessary, to provide structural details toenhance the structural performance in fire.This paper presents a case study of performance based structural fire engineering conductedin the U.K. The case study demonstrates how structural fire engineering, using either simple oradvanced forms of analysis, can provide a robust and fire safe solution. Note: The advancedfinite element analysis presented here is currently being conducted in the U.S. and will be subjectof a separate publication.
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