Fire Resistance Structures Workshop

In 2011 the International Council for Building Research Studies (CIB) agreed that there was a need to develop an International R&D Roadmap for Fire Resistance of Structures. The roadmap will focus on development of a multi-year, multi-institution, large-scale experimental program to support standards development for performance-based engineering relevant to structural fire resistance. This effort will be carried out under the umbrella of CIB with the intent to include key international organizations, including the International FORUM of Fire Research Directors and other appropriate U.S. and international R&D, standards and codes, and testing organizations.

In response to this need, NIST is organizing a workshop to develop a roadmap for this important area of fire research. This workshop will attempt to identify and understand the research and development needs for implementation of technical solutions for Fire Resistance of Structures, which shall be achieved through greater use of existing technologies, development and deployment of emerging technologies, and use of standards for performance-based engineering design.

In preparation for the Workshop, NIST has commissioned three White papers on steel, concrete, and timber structures written by experts in the fields. The White papers will form the basis for discussion at the Workshop and provide a framework for the roadmap. The white papers focus on the following issues:

1. Identification of research and development needs for large-scale experiments on fire resistance of structures to support performance-based engineering and structure-fire model validation;
2. Prioritization of those needs in order of importance to performance-based engineering; and
3. Identification of the needed research timeline, i.e. near term (less than 3 years), medium term (3 to 6 years) and long term.

The workshop will review the outcomes from the white papers and focus on the following issues:

1. Identifying research and development needs for large-scale experiments on fire resistance of structures to support performance-based engineering and structure-fire model validation;
2. Prioritizing those needs in order of importance to performance-based engineering;
3. Phasing the needed research in terms of a timeline, i.e., near term (less than 3 years), medium term (3 to 6 years) and long term (more than 6 years);
4. Identifying the most appropriate international laboratory facilities available to address each need;
5. Identifying the potential collaborators and sponsors for each need;
6. Identifying the primary means to transfer the results from each series of tests to industry through specific national and international standards, predictive tools for use in practice, and comprehensive research reports; and
7. Identifying the means for the coalition of international partners to review progress and exchange information on a regular basis.