Technical Papers
Feb 22, 2013

Structural Deformations as an Indicator of Fire Origin

Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 28, Issue 3

Abstract

Current methodologies of fire origin investigation have yet to include the structural deformations witnessed in steel buildings as a viable indicator of the area of fire origin. In this paper, the validity of using such a technique for fire investigation has been assessed. A series of full-scale burn tests was conducted to validate the proposed methodology. Although it did not turn out that the greatest magnitude of deflection was always indicative of the precise area of origin, the tests have shown that the deflections can be used as important indicators of the area of origin.

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References

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Go to Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 28Issue 3June 2014
Pages: 440 - 449

History

Received: Sep 11, 2012
Accepted: Feb 20, 2013
Published online: Feb 22, 2013
Published in print: Jun 1, 2014

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Authors

Affiliations

Andrew T. Tinsley, A.M.ASCE [email protected]
P.E.
Associate Professor, Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology, Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond, KY 40475 (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
Edwin G. Burdette, Ph.D., F.ASCE [email protected]
P.E.
Fred N. Peebles Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-2010. E-mail: [email protected]
David J. Icove, Ph.D. [email protected]
P.E.
Research Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-2250. E-mail: [email protected]

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