Structural fire resistance

News and Updates

New Timeline of Deadliest California Wildfire Could Guide Lifesaving Research and Action

February 8, 2021

On a brisk November morning in 2018, a fire sparked in a remote stretch of canyon in Butte County, California, a region nestled against the western slopes of

A fire test of an office building floor replica occurring in a fireproof compartment.

How Fire Causes Office-Building Floors to Collapse

March 24, 2020

Engineers and technicians at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) spent months meticulously recreating the long concrete floors supported

The remains of what was once a home improvement store in Joplin, Mo., showing the destructive power of the tornado that struck the area in May 2011.

NIST Awards $6.6 Million for Research to Help Structures Better Withstand Earthquakes, Wind and Fire

August 8, 2019

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is awarding more than $6.6 million to fund research

Publications

Distributed fiber optic measurements of strain and temperature in long-span composite floor beams with simple shear connections subject to compartment fires

May 1, 2021

Author(s)

Yanping Zhu, Matthew Klegseth, Yi Bao, Matthew Hoehler, Lisa Y. Choe, Genda Chen

This study explores an instrumentation strategy using distributed fiber optic sensors to measure strain and temperature through the concrete volume in large

CRITICAL TEMPERATURE OF AXIALLY LOADED STEEL MEMBERS WITH WIDE-FLANGE SHAPES EXPOSED TO FIRE

January 1, 2021

Author(s)

Ana Sauca, Rachel Chicchi, Chao Zhang, Lisa Y. Choe

This paper presents closed-formed equations developed to evaluate critical temperatures of structural steel compression and tension members exposed to fire. The

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON FIRE RESISTANCE OF A FULL-SCALE COMPOSITE FLOOR ASSEMBLY IN A TWO-STORY STEEL FRAMED BUILDING

November 30, 2020

Author(s)

Lisa Y. Choe, Selvarajah Ramesh, Xu Dai, Matthew S. Hoehler, Matthew F. Bundy

This paper presents the first of four planned fire experiments of a full-scale two-story steel framed building constructed at the National Fire Research

Thermal response and capacity of beam end shear connections during a large compartment fire experiment

November 30, 2020

Author(s)

Xu Dai, Lisa Y. Choe, Erica Fischer, Charles Clifton

To perform structural fire design and analysis for steel-framed composite structures, the role of steel connections is essential. However, the current design