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Introduction to specific fire engineering design of buildings. Active and passive fire protection. Severity of post-flashover fires. Fire resistance of steel, concrete and timber structures.
Structural Fire Engineering introduces graduate students and engineering professionals to performance-based design of structures for fire situations. It covers general fire safety principles, fire resistance and the behaviour, analysis and design of structures at elevated temperatures. In exploring the available fire engineering design methods, the course examines prescriptive approaches, simple calculations and advanced calculation methods. It is aimed at enhancing structural engineering practice for the design of structures exposed to fires.
At the end of this course, participants will understand the fundamental behaviours of individual structural elements and structural systems in fires and the different methodologies that may be used to predict these behaviours. Students should be able to distinguish between situations where tabulated and simplified calculations of fire resistance of structural elements are applicable, and where advanced calculations are either the only alternative or a better option. Principally, they will be able to estimate:Temperatures in post-flashover firesEquivalent fire severityTemperatures in structural assemblies using hand calculation methodsLoads and safety factors for structural fire designFire performance of steel, concrete, timber and composite frame structures using hand calculation methodsWhen to use advanced calculation methods for the analysis or design of structures for fire
ENGR403 or subject to approval of the Head of Department
ENCI661
Students must attend one activity from each section.
The course is based on guided self-study, using the textbook Structural Design for Fire Safety (2nd Edition) and other references on structural fire engineering. It is delivered in ‘Block Mode’, with two three-day blocks at the University of Canterbury. To guide students through the course and to prepare them for the final exam, the first block course offers lectures, which are designed to introduce basic concepts and ideas of structural fire engineering. The course textbook and other references cover the material in greater detail: they should be consulted for completeness. There are fortnightly tutorials to reinforce the ideas discussed in the lectures and referenced materials. The second block reviews assignment problems and introduces advanced topics in structural fire engineering amongst discussions of current problems in this field.This course builds on the structural fire design principles taught in ENGR403 Fire Engineering. It expands on these principles by delving into the fundamentals of the design of structures for fire conditions and addresses the behaviour of single elements and structural assemblies to standard and real fires. We would encourage you to review your ENGR403 notes to enhance your understanding of the basics of structural fire design.
Anthony Abu
Paul Horne
Grant Dunlop
Gordon Chen
General Information• The deadlines for all assignments are displayed on the Course Schedule and on LEARN. Any changes to course dates or other details will be communicated through LEARN. It is the responsibility of each student to check the LEARN website regularly.• Assessments must be submitted by the due date on LEARN. Marks will be posted online as soon as they are available. Late assignments are unacceptable and will not be marked. Our aim is to provide feedback on assessments within three weeks. Where this is not possible, it will be communicated to you. All submissions should be single PDF documents (typed).ENFE601 Course Outline 2024 3 © Assoc Prof Anthony Abu• Unless specifically stated, assessments should not exceed 3000 words of typed text. Illustrations are helpful but should be appropriately explained. Items that do not directly contribute to an argument being made in the main body of the text should be put in an appendix. Appendices are limited to a maximum of ten pages.• Plagiarism is not accepted in any form. Submitted assignments would be checked using “turn-it-in”. All “DRAFT” submissions on LEARN will not be assessed, and will receive a zero grade.Tests• There will be a test at 09.00 am on the third day of Block Course 1. The test is based on the items covered during the first two days of the block. In order to fully appreciate the material covered on those days it is recommended that students have a good read of the course textbook ahead of the block.• The final test (May/June 2024) will be a three-hour online examination. Students will have three days within which to complete the test and upload their solutions on LEARN. Unless otherwise stated the three hours of the test are consecutive. Currently the test is planned to run from 12h – 14th June 2024. If, for any reason, we must change these dates, it will be communicated to you. The test will cover all material in the course.
Buchan, A H and Abu, A K; Structural Design for Fire Safety ; 2nd; John Wiley and Sons, 2016.
Hurley, Morgan J. et al; SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering ; Springer New York : Imprint : Springer, 2016.
Lamalva, Kevin. , Hopkin, Danny; International Handbook of Structural Fire Engineering ; 1st ed. 2021; Springer International Publishing : Imprint : Springer, 2021.
Lennon, Tom; Structural fire engineering ; ICE Publishing, 2011.
Purkiss, J. A. , Li, Long-Yuan; Fire safety engineering design of structures ; Third edition; CRC Press, 2013.
Designing steel structures for fire safety by J-M Franssen, V Kodur and R Zaharia (2009)The course textbook can be purchased in several ways. Physical copies can be obtained through Catherine O’Shaughnessy at the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the university, the University of Canterbury (UC) bookshop (www.ubscan.co.nz) or online through various outlets. A softcopy can also be obtained through the UC Library.
Domestic fee $1,197.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Civil and Natural Resources Engineering .