Project description DEENESFRITPL Fire safety of tall timber structures including the fire decay phase Tall timber buildings offer a sustainable solution for future densely populated cities. Their main worldwide barrier relates to fire safety, and standard tests omit the fire decay phase. However, this is of crucial importance for timber structures because wood loses mechanical properties at relatively low temperatures. Thus, the precise interaction between fire and structure needs to be understood because the temperature propagation through the load-bearing timber can unexpectedly lead to failure. FIReSafeTimber investigates key challenges related to the fire dynamics inside timber buildings and the resulting deterioration of the timber mechanical properties using computational models and fire experiments at various scales. FIReSafeTimber aims at developing performance-based methodologies for the fire-safe design of timber structural systems including the fire decay phase. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Urban densification, sustainability drivers and technological advances foster the development of high-rise structures using bio-based materials like engineered wood products. Their main worldwide barrier relates to fire safety. Although a natural fire has a decay phase, structural capacity is traditionally assessed according to a standard fire curve: an unrealistic ever-increasing thermal exposure with time, conceived as worst-case design scenario. This results in inadequate assessment for timber, often disqualifying it as potential material. Also, the decay phase, deemed less onerous due to its lower temperatures, is generally omitted from structural calculations. However, for structural performance it is of crucial importance for timber. Unlike traditional non-combustible construction materials, wood loses its mechanical properties at relatively low temperatures. Thus, the precise interaction between fire and structure needs to be understood because the temperature propagation through the load-bearing timber can unexpectedly lead to structural collapse, even after a fire seems extinguished. Current regulations fail to consider this hazardous issue and available literature on the matter is limited. Fundamental technical issues still need to be resolved and pertain to the nature of the fire dynamics and the resulting deterioration of the engineered timber mechanical properties. In FIReSafeTimber computational models are built to simulate the thermal exposure to structural elements for various fire dynamics conditions (e.g. fuel and compartment characteristics). Bench-scale and full-scale fire tests are conducted on loaded timber structural elements with varying fire decay phase. FIReSafeTimber will formulate a novel constitutive model to predict the heat transfer and the structural capacity of timber elements and will develop performance-based methodologies for the fire-safe design of timber structural systems that include the effects of the fire decay phase. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesforestry Keywords Timber fire safety fire decay phase timber structures performance-based design fire dynamics structural capacity engineered wood products heat transfer charring bio-based materials Programme(s) HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme Topic(s) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-01 - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 Call for proposal HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT GENT Net EU contribution € 175 920,00 Address Sint pietersnieuwstraat 25 9000 Gent Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen Arr. Gent Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window EU contribution No data Partners (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Old college, south bridge EH8 9YL Edinburgh See on map Region Scotland Eastern Scotland Edinburgh Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding No data EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH Switzerland Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Raemistrasse 101 8092 Zuerich See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding No data
