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The concept of designing buildings to resist loads is fundamental to the design and regulatory process. Fire has traditionally been addressed differently because fires are difficult to describe in the same way as other building loads. This paper proposes a
Three standard fire resistance tests (ASTM E 119) were conducted on a composite floor system to study the effects of 1) test restraint conditions, and 2) scale of the test. Two full-scale tests, 35 ft (10.7 m) span, and one half-scale test, 17 ft (5.2 m)
This report describes results obtained from a fire protection engineering analysis of an historic government office building located in Washington, DC. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building is a five story building constructed in the 1870 s to
The collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, resulting from a combination of aircraft impact damage and subsequent fires, was studied as part of the Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster
We have carried out first-principles calculation of Tc and other relevant parameters of the new 40 K superconductor MgB2. Our results are in excellent agreement with the neutron measurements of phonons as well as with the measured boron isotope effect and
For more than a decade potential environmental problems associated with organo-bromine flame retardant systems have motivated the search for non-halogen based approaches to reducing polymer flammability. Initially, research focused on development of new
Takashi Kashiwagi, John R. Shields, Richard H. Harris Jr., W H. Awad
The thermal and flammability properties of the polyamide 6/clay nanocomposites are measured to determine the flame retardant performance of the nanocomposites. The gasification process of the nanocomposite samples are observed and collected residues are
Flame retardant additives are ubiquitous in commercial products. They reduce fire losses by decreasing the likelihood of ignition and the rate of heat release of the products in which they are compounded. This article outlines the definition, applications
Takashi Kashiwagi, F Du, K Winey, K M. Groth, John R. Shields, Richard H. Harris Jr., Jack F. Douglas
Flammability properties of PMMA/SWNT nanocomposites were measured. The addition of SWNT significantly reduces mass loss rate of PMMA even for the contents less than a 1 % mass fraction. The dispersion of tubes affects flammability properties.
Takashi Kashiwagi, K Winey, Richard H. Harris Jr., John R. Shields, Jack F. Douglas
Recent measurements on polymer nanocomposites filled with multiple-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) have indicated that these nanoparticles are highly effective fire retardants at low loading (1 wt.-%). We report here similar results for single-walled
Mauro Zammarano, Roland H. Kraemer, Richard H. Harris Jr., Thomas J. Ohlemiller, Sameer Rahatekar, Jeffrey W. Gilman
Polyurethane flexible foams (PUFs) have a large market as upholstery and bedding cushioning material. There is an increasing demand for flame retarded grades in rail, plane and automotive transportation. Untreated PUFs are prone to rapid fire growth due to
The application of quantum mechanics and molecular simulation methods can yield new insights into thermal reactivity and its effect on materials flammability. One example of this approach is reactive molecular dynamics as implemented in a computer program
Occupants in fire emergencies in buildings are presented with multiple pieces of information and environmental cues which produce varying levels of stress for the occupant. Occupants develop behavior response strategies to decrease their level of stress
These four chapters are part of a larger book on radiant heating and cooling. The goal of these chapters is to explain thermal comfort, how it is modeled, and how to calculate it. The first chapter explains the variables of thermal comfort. The second
Jeffrey W. Gilman, P H. Maupin, Richard H. Harris Jr., S Bellayer, Anthony J. Bur, S C. Roth, M Murariu, A B. Morgan, J R. Harris
A quiet revolution is occurring in the field of polymer science the high throughput (HT) or combinatorial revolution. It is, in a general sense, a change in the way one views performing research and development, and simply involves devising methods to
Rick D. Davis, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Marc R. Nyden, John R. Shields, Richard H. Harris Jr., W Demory
The high throughput mindset has been our approach to rapidly synthesize, characterize, and analyze additive filled polymers. For example, rather than taking a week to extrude polystyrene strands with 0% to 10% integer amounts of organically modified clay
Marc R. Nyden, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Rick D. Davis, John R. Shields
An overview of the research directed at the development and application of high-throughput methods for multi-component polymer blends and nanocomposites that is currently underway in the Building and Fire Research Laboratory is presented.
Samuel Manzello, John R. Shields, Thomas Cleary, Jiann C. Yang
Firebrands or embers are produced as trees and structures burn in wildland/urban interface (WUI) fires. Hot firebrands ultimately come to rest and may ignite fuels far removed from the fire, resulting in fire spread. It is believed that firebrand showers
The results of NIST s three-year investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 were published in 2005 in 43 volumes consisting of over 10,000 pages. The reports included 30 recommendations for changes to codes, standards
One of the recommendations of the National Construction Safety Team for the Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (NIST NCSTAR 1, 2005) is to enhance the capability of available computational software to predict
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), U.S. Department of Interior, is designated as the lead agency for in situ burn research in the Oil Pollution Research and Technology Plan prepared under the authority of Title VII of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA
The consistency of measurements performed in various wind tunnels is of concern to both design engineers and code writers. This study makes an initial attempt at quantifying the variability of wind effects estimates based on tests conducted at six wind
ISO Technical Committee TC 59, Building Construction, is an international standards committee dealing with general rules for performance requirements for buildings, SC 14, Design Life, is the subcommittee of TC 59 that deals with standardization of the
A series of measurements and performance evaluations has been conducted in the Temperature Control Module (TCM) for three control system vendors in order to demonstrate their ability to meet the high accuracy temperature control specification for the