Reliability based design of timber in fire

• Research unit: COST
• Project number: C15.0064

Key words (English)

Timber; fire; resistance; safety; structural reliability; design

Research programs (English)

COST-Action FP1404 - Fire Safe Use of Bio-based building products

Short description (English)

For the design of structural timber members at normal temperature according to Eurocode 5 (EN 1995-1-1), 5% fractile values are used for the material properties (e.g. stiffness or strength). For the fire design of structural timber members, Eurocode 5 (EN 1995-1-2) gives conversion factors to enable design with 20% fractile values which reflects the results of traditional fire codes in Europe. However, other materials like concrete still use 5% fractile values in the fire situation. This contradiction has been recognised in the scientific community, however a scientific background to explain the validity of the use of 20% fractile values for the fire design of timber members is lacking. The objective of the project is the detailed analysis of the current approach for the fire design of timber members based on Eurocode 5 and the determination of the required safety factors in case of fire based on reliability analysis. An extensive numerical investigation will be performed for timber members in fire and subjected to different loads. The numerical model will be validated with fire tests. The probabilistic calibration of the safety factors in case of fire will be realised by reviewing the existing knowledge as well as additional experiments in combination with the results of the numerical simulations performed.

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise: ETH Zürich Institut für Baustatik und Konstruktion HIL D37.1

Partners and International Organizations (English)

AT; BE; HR; CZ; DK; EE; FI; FR; MK; DE; EL; IE; IT; LV; NL; NO; PL; PT; SK; SI; ES; SE; TR; UK; BG; MN;

Abstract (English)

See short description

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C15.0064