Performance-based structural fire design of steel frames can eliminate fire protection on up to half of a building’s floor beams, according to a two-year study of PBSFD. Still, structural engineers leading the way toward more common use of structural fire engineering in the U.S. say there is more testing needed—especially on column-to-beam connection details—to prove all the benefits of PBSFD.
The method, which develops project-specific structural behavior, requires sophisticated modeling of a design under fire loads. PBSFD can “benefit public safety and deliver more efficient and economical buildings,” says Kevin LaMalva, principal fire consultant for Warringtonfire.
