Modeling — Structural Fire Protection
Structural fire protection is the insulation materials, coatings, and systems used to prevent or delay fire-induced temperature rise in structural members. It can be provided in varied forms and different materials, such as the typical spray-applied fire resistive materials, gypsum board, intumescent/mastic coatings, concrete and masonry. Structural fire protection falls into the general class of passive fire protection that typically supplements the active protection (automatic sprinklers, smoke and fire detectors and alarms, human fire suppression intervention, etc.), as required by the building codes.
The analysis design of structural fire protection can be performed in one of two ways: prescriptively or by means of performance-based engineering. For many common designs, the selection of protection material type, product, thickness, and its installation will depend on the particular assembly design for the prescriptive fire resistance rating required for the construction. Functionality and cost are the two key objectives for this assessment. In some cases, exposed/unprotected construction or other considerations may be the predominant reasons for performance-based engineering to demonstrate fire safety adequacy under the unique design conditions.
For more information contact:
Nestor Iwankiw
niwankiw@haifire.com
773-467-2013
