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Article
Publication date: 12 September 2016

Negar Elhami Khorasani, Maria Garlock and Paolo Gardoni

This paper aims to develop a framework to assess the reliability of structures subject to a fire following an earthquake (FFE) event. The proposed framework is implemented in one…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a framework to assess the reliability of structures subject to a fire following an earthquake (FFE) event. The proposed framework is implemented in one seamless programming environment and is used to analyze an example nine-story steel moment-resisting frame (MRF) under an FFE. The framework includes uncertainties in load and material properties at elevated temperatures and evaluates the MRF performance based on various limit states.

Design/methodology/approach

Specifically, this work models the uncertainties in fire load density, yield strength and modulus of elasticity of steel. The location of fire compartment is also varied to investigate the effect of story level (lower vs higher) and bay location (interior vs exterior) of the fire on the post-earthquake performance of the frame. The frame is modeled in OpenSees to perform non-linear dynamic, thermal and reliability analyses of the structure.

Findings

Results show that interior bays are more susceptible than exterior bays to connection failure because of the development of larger tension forces during the cooling phase of the fire. Also, upper floors in general are more probable to reach specified damage states than lower floors because of the smaller beam sizes. Overall, results suggest that modern MRFs with a design that is governed by inter-story drifts have enough residual strength after an earthquake so that a subsequent fire typically does not lead to results significantly different compared to those of an event where the fire occurs without previous seismic damage. However, the seismic damage could lead to larger fire spread, increased danger to the building as a whole and larger associated economic losses.

Originality/value

Although the paper focuses on FFE, the proposed framework is general and can be extended to other multi-hazard scenarios.

Details

Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-2317

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2017

Negar Elhami Khorasani and Maria E.M. Garlock

This paper aims to present a literature review on the problem of fire following earthquake (FFE) as a potential hazard to communities in seismically active regions. The paper is…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a literature review on the problem of fire following earthquake (FFE) as a potential hazard to communities in seismically active regions. The paper is important to work toward resilient communities that are subject to extreme hazards.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper lists and reviews the historical FFE events (20 earthquakes from 7 countries), studies the available analytical tools to evaluate fire ignition and spread in communities after an earthquake, discusses the available studies on performance of individual buildings under post-earthquake fires and summarizes the current literature on mitigation techniques for post-earthquake fires.

Findings

FFE can be considered a potential hazard for urban communities that are especially not prepared for such conditions. The available analytical models are not yet fully up to the standards that can be used by city authorities for decision-making, and therefore, should be further validated. Limited structural analyses of individual buildings under FFE scenarios have been completed. Results show that the drift demand on the building frame increases during post-earthquake fires. Despite the mitigation actions, there are still urban cities that are not prepared for such an event, such as certain areas of California in the USA.

Originality/value

The paper is a complete and an exhaustive collection of literature on different aspects of FFE. Research in earthquake engineering is well advanced, while structural analyses under fire load and performance of communities under FFE can be further advanced.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 8 no. 02
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2010

Spencer Quiel and Maria Garlock

This paper examines the level of detail and complexity that one needs to incorporate in a computational finite element (FE) model to predict the thermal and structural response of…

Abstract

This paper examines the level of detail and complexity that one needs to incorporate in a computational finite element (FE) model to predict the thermal and structural response of steel high-rise building frames to fire. Comparisons are made between these models in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Performance related to three parameters was examined: (1) the representation of the structural system as a 3-D full frame model versus a 2-D plane-frame model, both of which include the steel frame and the floor slab; (2) the representation of the slab in the 2-D plane frame model; and (3) the effects of modeling the temperature profile of each steel member cross-section as non-uniform (i.e. allowing a thermal gradient to develop) versus uniform. Results indicate that the 2-D plane frame model can be reasonably used in some cases to predict the performance of the perimeter column and floor beams framing into them in a fire-exposed high-rise moment-resisting frame (MRF) with a significant savings in analysis run time. The slab has little influence on the structural analysis of a 2-D plane frame; however, the slab influences the thermal profile through the depth of the beams, and these temperature changes will produce a non-negligible change when calculating the behavior of the frame and should be accounted for. Results also indicate that models whose members have uniform temperature can be used to obtain reasonable estimates of the interaction between connected beams and columns. However, thermal gradients produce significant changes in the deflection mechanics and plastic P-M limit state behavior exhibited by non-uniformly heated beam-columns that experience a severe decrease in capacity; therefore, it is recommended that thermal gradients be included in models that are used to predict deflections or plastic limit state behavior.

Details

Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-2317

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2021

Vishal M. and Satyanarayanan K.S.

This paper delineates a literature review on fire-induced progressive collapse on structures and the effect of high temperature on structures and elements. After the occurrences…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper delineates a literature review on fire-induced progressive collapse on structures and the effect of high temperature on structures and elements. After the occurrences of fire in the World Trade Center in the USA, the researchers started concentrating on the progressive collapse that happens due to high temperature. Currently, most of the researchers are working on fire-induced progressive collapse on structures using high-temperature behavior on materials which are used for construction. The researchers have been doing an intensive study to find a better strategy to prevent the building from structural fire damage or collapse with available codes and guidelines throughout the world. This paper aims to provide a better understanding and analytical solutions on the basis of the recent works done by researchers in fire-induced progressive collapse and methods adopted to find the collapse mechanism.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is written by studying different literature papers of 109 related to progressive collapse on structures and fire-induced progressive collapse.

Findings

The behavior of structures due to high temperature and collapse conditions due to fire in different scenarios is identified.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how the structure can withstand high-temperature conditions in our day-to-day lives.

Details

Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-2317

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 December 2013

V. Raja, M. Kumar and P. Jayabalan

Mild steel plates used in buildings and offshore platforms are prone to fire accidents. These plates being ductile are designed effectively for buckling and ultimate strength…

Abstract

Mild steel plates used in buildings and offshore platforms are prone to fire accidents. These plates being ductile are designed effectively for buckling and ultimate strength characteristics under static loads. These characteristics get drastically affected due to reduction in stiffness of the stress strain characteristics of mild steel with increase in temperatures. This paper presents a numerical study conducted on clamped plates at elevated constant temperature for the assessment of reduced buckling and ultimate strengths. Coupled Nonlinear static thermal analysis on clamped plates was performed using standard FE software ANSYS®. Both geometric and material nonlinearities are considered in the analysis. The study comprises of plates with varying aspect ratio (1 to 4) and breadth to thickness (28 to 128) at constant elevated temperatures of 0 °C, 200 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C and 800 °C. Nondimensional plate slenderness ratios based on AISC and Eurocode at elevated temperature was evaluated. Several charts showing normalised buckling stress vs temperature and normalised ultimate strength vs temperature for varied nondimensional plate slenderness ratio and plate aspect ratios are drawn. The buckling and ultimate strengths from this study are found to be underestimated in comparison to Eurocode and AISC calculations. The reduction in buckling and ultimate strength was found to be significant beyond 400 °C. It is observed that for all plate aspect ratios, the effect of plate breadth to thickness ratio is important for temperatures below 500°C and at 800°C ultimate strength of plate is only about 10% of that of at normal temperature.

Details

Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-2317

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 May 2021

Marcia Cassitas Hino and Maria Alexandra Cunha

The purpose of this study is to investigate how women's individual differences influence urban mobility service technology-use behavior. The reduction in urban mobility is a major…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how women's individual differences influence urban mobility service technology-use behavior. The reduction in urban mobility is a major problem in countries with emerging economies, thus affecting both the economy and quality of life.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical approach follows the individual differences theory of gender and information technology (IDTGIT). This research combines structured interviews to understand how the use of urban mobility service technology in daily routines is perceived, questionnaires to map individual differences and user demonstrations to capture how participants used mobility applications on their cell phones.

Findings

This study shows the influence of individual characteristics on the use of mobile apps and presents five behavioral profiles of women. This article goes beyond gender segregation to also show intragender differences.

Practical implications

This study explains women's behavior regarding urban mobility mobile applications through the generation of five profiles. These profiles can inform public policy managers on urban mobility and provide opportunities for improving the services of companies in the urban transport service chain.

Originality/value

With an intragender perspective, this study identifies the influence of individual characteristics on the use of technology and suggests that contextual identity, a novel dimension of characteristics that influence technology-use behavior, is relevant in the adoption of technology by its users.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

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