Design for fire and robustness

Durée

30h Th, 30h Pr

Nombre de crédits

Enseignant

Coordinateur(s)

N...

Langue(s) de l'unité d'enseignement

Langue anglaise

Organisation et évaluation

Enseignement au premier quadrimestre, examen en janvier

Horaire

Horaire en ligne

Unités d'enseignement prérequises et corequises

Les unités prérequises ou corequises sont présentées au sein de chaque programme

Contenus de l'unité d'enseignement

The aim of this course is to give students an understanding of the design methods of structures subjected to the fire action (accidental situation) or to exceptional events such as impact, explosion, etc.
The first part of the course focuses on structural fire design. It is articulated around four key objectives:
(i) Understanding the fundamentals of fire and fire safety. The course covers basics of fire physics, the effects of fire on materials and structures and the multidisciplinary aspects involved in fire safety.
(ii) Evaluating the development of fires in buildings. The course discusses the state-of-the-art methods for prediction of fire scenario, evaluation of fire load and calculation of gas temperatures in a fire compartment. Models of different levels of sophistication are described for fire modelling including nominal temperature curves, analytical localized fire models and advanced computational models.
(iii) Evaluating the fire resistance of structures. The course discusses the state-of-the-art methods for assessing the response of structural elements and entire structures to fire. These include analytical methods, numerical methods (FEM software SAFIR) and experimental methods (fire lab). The course covers the prediction of temperature of the structural elements and the structural design to achieve fire resistance, for elements made of different materials (steel, concrete, timber) and subject to various effects of actions (tension, compression and bending moment).
(iv) Achieving fire resistance in real projects. The course mobilizes the techniques and knowledge gained in the previous parts to analyze how structural fire resistance can be achieved in real projects, in an economic and sustainable way. Attention is paid to various methods of protection of structures to fire as well as on performance-based design taking advantage of, for instance, tensile membrane action. Examples are presented from the experience of the teacher as a consultant.
The second part of the course focuses on the behaviour of structures subjected to exceptional events. A first lecture will be dedicated to the introduction of important definitions and concepts for the design of structures subjected to exceptional events. Then, the information available in the norms and standards are studied, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the methods proposed in these documents. The notion of scenario is also contemplated and finally, a specific method called "the alternative load path method" is considered in details as this method is the one allowing the most efficient and economical design of structures under such exceptional events.

Acquis d'apprentissage (objectifs d'apprentissage) de l'unité d'enseignement

At the end of this course, the students will be able to design structures subjected to fire action and to ensure an appropriate robustness to a structure which could be subjected to exceptional events.
More globally, the students will improve their knowledge in the field of structural mechanics.

Savoirs et compétences prérequis

Basic knowledge in the field of structural mechanics and on the bevaviour of structures made of steel, concrete and timber is required.

Activités d'apprentissage prévues et méthodes d'enseignement

Frontal lectures will be organised and work assignements will be given to the students.
For the structural fire part, the students will be introduced to the non linear finite element software SAFIR and they will have to use the software for some of their work assignements.
For the robustness part, the methods proposed in the Eurocodes to ensure an appropriate robustness to a structure will be applied to a work example.
 

Mode d'enseignement (présentiel ; enseignement à distance)

Mode of delivery: mainly face-to-face lectures + work assignements (small projects to be realised individually or in group)

Lectures recommandées ou obligatoires et notes de cours

Reference to interesting books or literatures will be given during the lectures.
To prepare the exam, the students will have a copy of all the PowerPoint presentations used for the lectures through MyULg.

Modalités d'évaluation et critères

A written exam will be organised at the end of the course. In this exam, both theoritical and practical questions will be asked.
The work assignements will also be evaluated and will be considered in the global evaluation of the course.

Stage(s)

Remarques organisationnelles

Contacts

Jean-François Demonceau - jfdemonceau@ulg.ac.be
Thomas Gernay - thomas.gernay@ulg.ac.be