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Engineering Laboratory / Fire Research Division

National Fire Research Laboratory

Influence of Fire on the Lateral Resistance of Cold-Formed Steel Shear Walls

Research Overview

A furnished kitchen compartment fire was studied to provide a comparison with the design fire scenarios. The compartment (3.6 m long by 2.8 m wide by 2.8 m high) was constructed using cold-formed steel framing lined with two layers of 16 mm thick gypsum board and had an opening 1.6 m wide by 2.0 m high. The fire was started by ignition of a pan of oil left unattended on a stove.

Hoehler, M. et al., Influence of Fire on the Lateral Resistance of Cold-Formed Steel Shear Walls – Phase 2: Oriented Strand Board, Strap Braced, and Gypsum-Sheet Steel Composite, Technical Note (NIST TN) 2038, 2019 https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2038
Andes, B. et al., Fire resistance of Cold-Formed steel framed shear walls under various fire scenarios, Fire and Materials, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/fam.2744
Experiment Name Plot of Heat Release Rate Ignition Photo Date/Time Specimen Fuel Type Test Duration (min) Total Heat Released (MJ) Peak HRR (kW)
S01_ISOburn1
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
31.17
1,852
1,508
SB02-ISOburn3
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
31.38
2,001
1,422
SB03b_MildFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
15.37
1,395
1,792
SB04b_ISOFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
61.00
4,167
1,402
OSB03b_MildFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
15.52
1,448
1,852
OSB04b_ISOFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
66.32
4,803
2,156
OSB05b_MildFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
16.28
1,430
1,793
S03b_MildFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
16.18
1,439
1,822
S05b_MildFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
15.60
1,442
1,865
S06b_MildFire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
Box Burner with Target Wall Natural Gas
15.75
1,452
1,879
Kitchen Room Fire
Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
Ignition
kitchen room with OSB back wall Cellulose, Plastic
83.08
6,813
7,585

Bryant, R. and Bundy, M. The NIST 20 MW Calorimetry Measurement System for Large-Fire Research, Technical Note (NIST TN) 2077, 2019
https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2077

NIST Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD)
https://doi.org/10.18434/mds2-2314

Last Updated May 25, 2021