Fire safety and fire resistance in timber buildings

Fire Safe Implementation of Mass Timber in Tall Buildings 

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Mass timber materials, such as Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber, are increasingly popular as structural materials for large and tall buildings. As a result of recent adhesive technologies and the implementation of stricter requirements for adhesive performance in some countries, such as by ANSI/APA PRG 320 (2018), there is an increased potential to expose mass timber safely and expect potential fires to decay in the event sprinklers are ineffective and fire service intervention of the fire brigade is severely delayed. The main aim of the research project is to identify safe limits of exposed mass timber surface areas that correspond with performance criteria used for previous U.S. Building Code Changes and the project includes:

• 5 real-scale compartment fire test and analysis
• Statistical analysis for the design of realistic compartments
• Predictive modeling of the fire dynamics & model development
• Case study of repairing a fire damaged structure
• Case studies of Extinguishment of smouldering with less water

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Expertise at RISE in fire safety and fire resistance in timber buildings

RISE has been leading international research on important topics such as:

• tall buildings with timber structures,
• fire safe design solutions for timber buildings,
• fire resistance of timber structures,
• fire dynamics in timber buildings,
• timber adhesives in fires,
• timber connections in fire,
• extinguishment methods for the fire brigade,
• etc.

We are and have been developing several test methods and standards and have had, besides an impact in Europe, also a significant impact on North American building regulations. Experts at RISE also give courses concerning fire safety in timber buildings for the industry, designers, authorities etc.

Our experts are part of international committees, such as: Task Force Fire, Fire Safe Use of Wood, Eurocode 5 (CEN TC250 SC5) and were awarded medals and other recognized international medals and awards for their contributions to the field.

RISE developed software, SP-FiT to easily perform fire resistance calculations according to Eurocode 5 and the European Technical Guidelines for Fire Safety in Timber Buildings. Courses for the use of SP-FiT can be found here: https://www.ri.se/sv/utbildning/lar-dig-berakna-trakonstruktioners-brandmotstand-enkelt-och-effektivt-genom-spfit-20