Fire Behaviour of Timber Structures for Building and Industrial Construction

The subject of the research project is to determine experimentally the fire behaviour of timber constructions such as wall and ceiling component parts in skeleton and block panel constructions and facade elements. In further consequence a numerical calculation method is to be developed. In the future the fire behaviour of construction components as well as timber constructions should be able to be evaluated computationally on basis of the experimental investigations for the high and industrial constructions. For the evaluation of the fire behaviour of a building several issues are to be concerned. On one hand the fire behaviour of the main carrying construction should be considered. On the other hand the temperature and smoke propagation depending on the existing fire load and existing opening surfaces, the effect of active fire measures (e.g. smoke detectors), the building conception (escape routes) and the human behavior in case of fire are of prime importance. The different behaviour and the evaluation of the different materials under fire load in the building industry are particularly relevant. The interaction of the different building materials with wood are to be investigated experimentally and numerically. In addition the different building methods using different materials especially under fire load are to be analyzed and represented comparatively. Research on international level is imperatively needed, since there is lack of comparisons of the fire behaviour of entire constructions with different materials. The results of the project should be represented user-orientated and made available to the structural engineer, architect, authorities, etc.