Fire Resistance Design: Prescriptive and Performance-Based Approaches
Join us in New York for an in-person seminar and networking with industry colleagues.
Determining fire resistance or providing required fire protection of building elements can be challenging, particularly when faced with limited clear space for fireproofing applications, special aesthetic requirements, or conditions that are different from those documented in approved resources. In these situations, the code allows for alternative methods to determine the fire resistance rating under ASTM E119 fire exposure conditions, including engineering analysis. This can be particularly useful when the application is confined to special building elements or a small portion of a structure. Implementing the standard fire resistance design approach under ASTM E119 may be costly and can restrict architectural creativity. An increasingly viable alternative is performance-based structural fire engineering (PBSFE). This advanced method considers realistic fire exposure and the response of the structural elements and their connections, accounting explicitly for the actual level of heating experienced by the structural system and its capacity to withstand fire.
In this seminar, we will explore multiple methods available for determining fire resistance, track the progress and motivations behind code development for performance-based design, and present case studies to illustrate different engineering analysis methods applied in selected industry projects.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After attending this seminar, participants will be able to:
- Understand the difference between standard fire resistance design and performance-based structural fire engineering.
- Learn about the methods available to determine fire resistance, both prescriptively and through engineering analysis, and identify the basic approach to incorporate engineer analysis into industry projects.
- Recognize the advantages of applying performance-based structural fire engineering to evaluate structural performance under fire.
- Be familiar with codes, standards, and analysis tools supporting performance-based structural fire engineering implementation.
Participants will earn 1.0 AIA CES Learning Unit (LU/HSW) for attending the seminar. Registration is free. Please note that space is limited – email events@sgh.com to join our waitlist if the session is closed when you register.
About the Speaker
Qianru Guo has a passion for fire engineering, particularly in analysis related to structural response under fire events. She is an integral member of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger’s Fire Engineering practice group, working on life and fire safety code consulting, performance-based structural fire design, structural finite element analysis, heat transfer analysis, and computational fluid dynamics simulation. Qianru is a committee member of the Fire Protection group in American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and a member of Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).
Ricardo A. Medina is an expert in the field of structural mechanics who assists clients with issues related to infrastructure risk and resilience, structural fire engineering, condition assessment and management of aging structural systems, and earthquake engineering. He has significant teaching experience as faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for both the University of New Hampshire and University of Maryland, College Park. He has conducted research and published on a range of topics, including structural engineering, performance-based design, collapse assessment of structures, structural testing, and infrastructure risk assessment. Ricardo has also been actively involved in developing national and international seismic design standards, as well as guidelines to improve infrastructure resilience.
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