Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Load Bearing Capacity of Light Timber Frame Walls Under Fire

  • Published:
Mathematics in Computer Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Light Timer Frame Walls are made of solid timber elements and are usually fire protected by other materials. This investigation determines the residual load bearing capacity of Light Timber Frame Walls for fire rating periods of 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. The timber frame is made with 3 studs and 2 tracks, using two different fire protection levels (one and two gypsum layers). The computational model includes the thermal analysis under standard fire, including all types of materials and a sequential mechanical analysis with incremental load applied for each fire rating periods, applied just for the load bearing material. Nonlinear solution methods are used with small tolerance values for solution convergence, to determine the correct temperature and displacement fields. The thermal and the mechanical properties are considered temperature dependent. The mechanical analysis considers large displacement behaviour, and the charring effect of wood is included by the reduction of the stiffness and strength of the timber. The results show that the load bearing capacity decreases with the fire exposure time. A new proposal is presented between the load bearing capacity and the fire rating and finally the char layer is compared with the current and future version of Eurocode 5, part 1.2.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. CEN, “EN 1363-1: Fire resistance tests Part 1: General Requirements.” CEN- European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, p. 52 (2020)

  2. CEN, EN 1365-1: Fire resistance tests for loadbearing elements-Part 1: Walls, CEN. Brussels: CEN (2013)

  3. ISO, ISO834-1: Fire-resistance tests - Elements of building construction-Part 1: General requirements. International Organization for Standardization (1999)

  4. CEN, EN 1364-1: Fire resistance tests for non-loadbearing elements. Part 1: Walls, CEN. Brussels: CEN (2015)

  5. CEN, EN 13501-2: Fire classification of construction products and building elements-Part 2: Classification using data from fire resistance tests, excluding ventilation services, CEN. Brussels: CEN (2016)

  6. Takeda, H., Mehaffey, J.R.: WALL2D: A model for predicting heat transfer through wood-stud walls exposed to fire. Fire Mater. 22(4), 133–140 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1018(1998070)22:4%3c133::AID-FAM642%3e3.0.CO;2-L

  7. Piloto, P.A.G., Fonseca, E.M.M.: Timber framed walls lined with gypsum plates under fire. In: 7th International Conference Integrity-Reliability-Failure, pp. 547–556 (2020)

  8. Gernay, T.: Modelling thermal performance of gypsum plasterboard-lined light timber frame walls using SAFIR and TASEF. Fire Mater. 34(8), 385–406 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1002/fam.1026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Franssen, J.-M.: SAFIR. A thermal/ tructural program modelling structures under fire. Eng. J. Am. Inst. Steel Constr. 42(3), 143–158 (2005). https://www.aisc.org/SAFIR-A-Thermal-and-Structural-Program-for-Modeling-Structures-Under-Fire

  10. Sterner, E., Wickstrom, U.: TASEF—temperature analysis of structures exposed to fire-Users manual. Boras (1990). https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:961683/FULLTEXT01.pdf

  11. Thi, V.D., Khelifa, M., Oudjene, M., El Ganaoui, M., Rogaume, Y.: Numerical simulation of fire integrity resistance of full-scale gypsum-faced cross-laminated timber wall. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 132(June), 96–103 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2018.06.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bedon, C., Fragiacomo, M.: Experimental and numerical analysis of in-plane compressed unprotected log-haus timber walls in fire conditions. Fire Saf. J. 107(December 2017), 89–103 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2017.12.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fonseca, E.M.M., Leite, P.A.S., Silva, L.: Wood connections under fire conditions protected with gypsum plasterboard types A and F. In: Advances in Fire Safety Engineering, pp. 93–106 (2020)

  14. Qin, R., Zhou, A., Chow, C.L., Lau, D.: Structural performance and charring of loaded wood under fire. Eng. Struct. 228(2020), 111491 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.111491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Piloto, P., Khetata, M., Gavilán, A.: Fire resistance tests of non-loadbearing LSF walls. In: TEST &E 2019—2nd Conference on Testing and Experimentations in Civil Engineering—Proceedings, pp. 429–440 (2019). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3355354

  16. Khetata, S.M., Piloto, P.A.G., Gavilán, A.B.R.: Fire resistance of composite non-load bearing light steel framing walls. J. Fire Sci. 38(2), 136–155 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1177/0734904119900931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. CEN, “EN 1995-1.2, Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures-Part 1–2: General-Structural fire design. CEN-European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, pp. 1–69 (2004)

  18. CEN, “pr EN 1995-1.2, Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures—Part 1–2: General-Structural fire design.” CEN-European Committee for Standardization, Brussels (2020)

  19. Sultan, M.A.: A model for predicting heat transfer through noninsulated unloaded steel-stud gypsum board wall assemblies exposed to fire. Fire Technol. 32(3), 239–259 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01040217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Holmberg, S., Persson, K., Petersson, H.: Nonlinear mechanical behaviour and analysis of wood and fibre materials. Comput. Struct. 72(4), 459–480 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0045-7949(98)00331-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Milhan, T.H.: Numerical study on wooden beams subjected to high temperatures (in Portuguese). Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, MSc thesis (2020)

  22. Guan, Z.W., Zhu, E.C.: Finite element modelling of anisotropic elasto-plastic timber composite beams with openings. Eng. Struct. 31(2), 394–403 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2008.09.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Rodney, H., Soc, R.: A theory of the yielding and plastic flow of anisotropic metals. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A. Math. Phys. Sci. 193(1033), 281–297 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1948.0045

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  24. Schleifer, V.: Zum Verhalten von raumabschliessenden mehrschichtigen Holzbauteilen im Brandfall, ETH Library (2009)

  25. Frangi, A., Schleifer, V., Fontana, M.: Design model for the verification of the separating function of light timber frame assemblies. Eng. Struct. 32(4), 1184–1195 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2009.12.044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Nele Mäger, K., Just, A., Frangi, A., Brandon, D.: International network on timber engineering research. In: International Network on Timber Engineering Research, pp. 439–451 (2017)

  27. Nele, M.K., Alar, J., Frangi, A.: Improvements to the component additive method. In: 10th International Conference on Structures in Fire, pp. 283–290 (2018)

  28. CEN, “EN 1991-1-2, Eurocode 1: Actions on structures—Part 1–2: General actions—Actions on structures exposed to fire,” CEN- European Committee for Standardization. CEN- European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, p. 59 (2002)

  29. Dai, B., Zheng, B., Liang, Q., Wang, L.: Numerical solution of transient heat conduction problems using improved meshless local Petrov–Galerkin method. Appl. Math. Comput. 219(19), 10044–10052 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2013.04.024

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253, Bragança, Portugal

    Paulo A. G. Piloto

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4249-015, Porto, Portugal

    Elza M. M. Fonseca

Authors
  1. Paulo A. G. Piloto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elza M. M. Fonseca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paulo A. G. Piloto.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Piloto, P.A.G., Fonseca, E.M.M. Load Bearing Capacity of Light Timber Frame Walls Under Fire. Math.Comput.Sci. 16, 8 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11786-022-00521-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11786-022-00521-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation