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Properties of Building Materials

  • Chapter
SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering

Abstract

Building components are to be designed to satisfy the requirements of serviceability and safety limit states. One of the major safety requirements in building design is the provision of appropriate fire resistance to various building components. The basis for this requirement can be attributed to the fact that, when other measures of containing the fire fail, structural integrity is the last line of defense. In this chapter, the term structural member is used to refer to both load-bearing (e.g., columns, beams, slabs) and non-load-bearing (e.g., partition walls, floors) building components.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    V. K. R. Kodur

  2. Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, USA

    T. Z. Harmathy

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  1. V. K. R. Kodur
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aon Fire Protection Engineering, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Morgan J. Hurley P.E., FSFPE (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Hughes Associates, Baltimore, USA

    Daniel Gottuk Ph.D., P.E.

  3. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, USA

    John R. Hall Jr. Ph.D.

  4. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Kazunori Harada Dr. Eng.

  5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA

    Erica Kuligowski Ph.D.

  6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA

    Milosh Puchovsky P.E., FSFPE

  7. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

    José Torero Ph.D.

  8. The Fire Safety Institute, Quincy, USA

    John M. Watts Jr. Ph.D., FSFPE

  9. FM Global, Johnston, USA

    Christopher Wieczorek Ph.D.

Ethics declarations

Certain commercial products are identified in this paper in order to adequately specify the experimental procedure. In no case does such identification imply recommendations or endorsement by the authors, nor does it imply that the product or material identified is the best available for the purpose.

Nomenclature, Greek Letters and Subscripts

a

Material constant, dimensionless

b

Constant, characteristic of pore geometry, dimensionless

c

Specific heat (J⋅kg–1⋅K–1)

\( \overline{c} \)

Specific heat for a mixture of reactants and solid products (J⋅kg–1⋅K–1)

E

Modulus of elasticity (Pa)

h

Enthalpy (J⋅kg–1)

Δh

Latent heat associated with a “reaction” (J⋅kg–1)

ΔH c

Activation energy for creep (J⋅kmol–1)

k

Thermal conductivity (W⋅m–1⋅K–1)

L v

Heat of gasification of wood

ℓ

Dimension (m)

Δℓ

ℓ – ℓ 0

m

Exponent, dimensionless

M

Mass (kg)

n

Material constant, dimensionless

P

Porosity (m3⋅m–3)

q n

Net heat flux to char front

R

Gas constant (8315 J⋅kmol–1⋅K–1)

S

Specific surface area (m2.m–3)

t

Time (h)

T

Temperature (K or °C)

v

Volume fraction (m–3.m3)

w

Mass fraction (kg⋅kg–1)

Z

Zener-Hollomon parameter (h–1)

α

Thermal diffusivity

β

Coefficient of linear thermal expansion (m⋅m–1)

γ

Expression defined by Equation 9.3, dimensionless

β0

Charring rate (mm/min)

δ

Characteristic pore size (m)

ε

Emissivity of pores, dimensionless

ε

Strain (deformation) (m⋅m–1)

εt0

Creep parameter (m⋅m–1)

\( {\dot{\varepsilon}}_{ts} \)

Rate of secondary creep (m.m–1⋅h–1)

θ

Temperature-compensated time (h)

ξ

Reaction progress variable, dimensionless

π

Material property (any)

ρ

Density (kg⋅m–3)

σ

Stress; strength (Pa)

σ

Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67 × 10–8 W⋅m–2⋅K–4)

g

Glass transient (temperature)

a

Of air

I

Of the ith constituent

p

At constant pressure

s

Of the solid matrix

t

True

t

Time-dependent (creep)

T

At temperature T

u

Ultimate

y

Yield

0

Original value, at reference temperature

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Kodur, V.K.R., Harmathy, T.Z. (2016). Properties of Building Materials. In: Hurley, M.J., et al. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2565-0_9

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