24/3/2017
When a building structure is too complex for the fire scenario to be determined according to existing norms or when the structural members (beams/columns) do not fall into the category of standard-sized sections, Efectis can use a combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the finite element method (FEM) to analyse realistically whether the structure is fire safe. Computational models help in simulating a variety of fire scenarios for a better performance-based design approach.
How does that work?
With CFD the thermal action on the whole structure can be predicted. These results can be used to identify the critical parts of the structure. Using the CFD results, the temperatures in these critical sections can be calculated with FEM to verify compliance with the requirements. This approach provides realistic yet conservative results. Because of the flexibility and the overall applicability of this combined method, it can be used for both existing and new structures.
Thanks to Efectis’s experience with numerical and experimental methods, clients can rest assured that the right safety input data is used to verify the performance of the structure.
Contact: Kamakshi Parwani – kamakshi.parwani@efectis.com