Assessment of Fire Load and Probabilistic Temperature for Office Buildings in Pakistan

Document Type : Research Papers

Authors

1 Ph.D., Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

2 M.Sc., Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

3 Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Pakistan.

4 Postdoctoral Researcher, College of Transportation Engineering, Tongji University Jiading Campus, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

This paper presents the results from 92 fire load density surveys conducted in 52 office buildings of Pakistan. The combination method of surveying that includes both inventory and weighing methods is used to determine the fire load of 92 office rooms, including 44 private and 48 government offices. Multiple linear regression analysis techniques are applied to assess the relationship of Fire Load Density (FLD) with variables according to the characteristics of the office rooms, such as office type, category, combustible materials, room dimensions, and ventilation conditions. Probabilistic models for FLD are developed using the regression analysis of the survey data. The survey data is further used to determine the maximum fire intensity in office buildings in Pakistan. The survey results show that the FLD increases with the increase in the area of the office. The percentage of wood is found to be the most contributing factor in the fire load. It has been noted that the fire load values are different for government and private offices, whereas the Building Code of Pakistan (BCP) has the same value for both. Statistical results presented in this study will be helpful in the fire safety and fire-resistant structure design of buildings in Pakistan.

Keywords

References

Baldwin, R., Law, M., Allen, G. and Griffiths, L.G. (1970). Survey of fire-loads in modern office buildings, Some preliminary results, JFRO, Fire Research Note No. 808.
Barnett, C.R. (1984). Pilot fire load survey, Project Report No 3580, New Zealand Fire Protection Association, MacDonald Barnett Partners, Auckland.
Bryson, J.O. and Gross, D. (1968). Techniques for the survey and evaluation of live floor loads and fire loads in modern office buildings, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, (Vol. 9698), Washington, DC.
Buchanan, A.H. and Abu, A.K. (2017a). Structural design for fire safety, John Wiley and Sons.
Buchanan, A.H. and Abu, A.K. (2017b). Structural design for fire safety (Second), United Kingdom: Wiley.
Bwalya, A. (2008). "An overview of design fires for building", Fire Technology, 44(June), 167-184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-007-0031-7.
Bwalya, A.C., Gibbs, E., Lougheed, G.D. and Kashef, A. (2010). Characterization of fires in multi-suite residential dwellings: Phase 1- Room fire experiments with individual furnishings, Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council Canada, Research Report, IRC-RR-302, Ottawa, Canada.
Caro, T.C. and Milke, J.A. (1996). A survey of fuel loads in contemporary office buildings, US Department of Commerce, Technology Administration.
Culver, C. (1976). Fire loads and live loads in buildings, US Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, 111-119.
Culver, C.G. (1978). "Characteristics of fire loads in office buildings", Fire Technology, 14(1), 51-60. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01997261.

Doyle, G.M. and Macilwraith, A. (2019). "A survey of fire loads for different room types found in a third level educational building", Collaborative European Research Conference (CERC), 387-396.

Džolev, I., Laban, M. and Draganić, S. (2021). "Survey based fire load assessment and impact analysis of fire load increment on fire development in contemporary dwellings", Safety Science, 135(1 March), 105094.
Eduful, J. (2012). "Correlation of fire load survey methodologies towards design fires for office buildings", Ph.D. Thesis, Carleton University.
 Elhami-Khorasani, N., Castillo, J.G.S., Saula, E., Josephs, T., Nurlybekova, G. and Gernay, T. (2020). "Application of a digitized fuel load surveying methodology to office buildings", Fire Technology, 57(January), 101-122, https://doi.org/10.1007/S10694-020-00990-2.
Fontana, M., Kohler, J., Fischer, K. and Sanctis, G. De. (2016). Fire load density, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 1131-1142.
Frey, F. (2017). SPSS (software), The International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, 1-2.
Gernay, T., Van Coile, R., Elhami Khorasani, N. and Hopkin, D. (2019). "Efficient uncertainty quantification method applied to structural fire engineering computations", Engineering Structures, 183(15 March), 1-17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.01.002.
Green, M. (1977). "A survey of fire loads in modern office nuilding, Some preliminary results", Fire Technology, 13(1), 42- 52.
Ingberg, S.H., Dunham, J.W. and Thompson, J.P. (1957). Combustible contents in buildings, Building Materials and Structures Report 149, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC.
Issen, L.A. (1980). Single family residential fire live loads survey, Washington, D.C.: US Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards Washington, DC.
Khorasani, N.E., Garlock, M. and Gardoni, P. (2014). "Fire load: Survey data, recent standards, and probabilistic models for office buildings", Engineering Structures, 58(1 January), 152-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2013.07.042.
Korpela, K. and K.J. (2000). "Fire loads in office buildings", Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Performance-Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods, Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Bethesda, MD.
Korpela, K. and Kushner, J. (2000). "Fire loads in office buildings", Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Performance-Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods, Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), Bethesda, USA.
Kumar, K.R. (1995). "Fire load in residential nuildings", Building and Environment, 30(2), 299-305.
Kumar, S. and Rao, C.V.S.K. (1997). "Fire loads in office buildings", Journal of Structural Engineering, 123(3), 365-368. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(1997)123:3(365).
Mazza, F. (2015). "Seismic vulnerability and retrofitting by damped braces of fire-damaged rc framed buildings", Engineering Structures, 101(15 October), 179-192.
Mazza, F. (2016). "Effects of near-fault vertical earthquakes on the nonlinear incremental response of RC base-isolated structures exposed to fire", Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 14(2), 433-454.
Mazza, F. (2017). "Residual seismic load capacity of fire-damaged rubber bearings of RC base-isolated buildings", Engineering Failure Analysis, 79(15 October, 951-970.
Milke, J.A. and Caro, T.C. (1996). "A survey of occupant load factors in contemporary office buildings", Journal of Fire Protection Engineering, 8(4), 169-182, https://doi.org/10.1177/104239159600800402.
Moradi, M., Tavakoli, H.R. and Abdollahzade, G.R. (2022). "Collapse probability assessment of a 4-story RC frame under post earthquake fire scenario", Civil Engineering Infrastructures Journal, 55(1), 121-137, https://doi.org/10.22059/CEIJ.2021.313241.1718.
Moradi, M., Tavakoli, H.R. and Abdollahzadeh, G. (2021). "Comparison of steel and reinforced concrete frames’ durability under fire and post-earthquake fire scenario", Civil Engineering Infrastructures Journal, 51(1), 145-168. https://doi.org/10.22059/CEIJ.2020.292639.1628.
NDMA. (2016). National Disaster Management Authority, NDMA Annual Report, Government of Pakistan Engineering Council.
NFPA. (2023). NFPA 557, Standard for determination of fire loads for use in structural fire protection design, In National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 557), 2023 Edition, Quincy, MA 02169.
Noman, M. and Yaqub, M. (2021). "Restoration of dynamic characteristics of RC T-beams exposed to fire using post fire curing technique", Engineering Structures, 249(15 December), 113339, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113339.
Noman, M., Yaqub, M., Abid, M., Musarat, M.A., Vatin, N.I. and Usman, M. (2022). "Effects of low-cost repair techniques on restoration of mechanical properties of fire-damaged concrete", Engineering Structures, 8(27 January), 1-14, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmats.2021.801464.
Noman, M., Yaqub, M., Fahad, M., Butt, F. and Khalid, B. (2022). "Dynamic characteristics of RC structures in short and long duration real fires", Case Studies in Construction Materials, 16(1 June), e01058, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2022.e01058.
Pakistan, G. (2016). Fire safety provisions 2016, In Building Code of Pakistan.
Sharma, U.K., Kumar, V., Kamath, P., Singh, B., Bhargava, P., Singh, Y., Usmani, A., Torero, J., Gillie, M. and Pankaj, P. (2014). "Testing of full-scale RC frame under simulated fire following earthquake", Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, 5(3), 215-228, https://doi.org/10.1260/2040-2317.5.3.215.
Tavakoli, H.R. and Kiakojouri F. (2015). "Threat-independent column removal and fire-induced progressive collapse: Numerical study and comparison", Civil Engineering Infrastructures Journal, 48(1), 121-131.
Thauvoye, C., Zhao, B., Klein, J. and Fontana, M. (2008). "Fire load survey and statistical analysis", Fire Safety Science, 9(9 December), 991-1002, https://doi.org/10.3801/IAFSS.FSS.9-991.
Tufail, M., Shahzada, K., Gencturk, B.,and Wei, J. (2016). "Effect of elevated temperature on mechanical properties of limestone, quartzite and granite concrete", International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials, 10(1), 1-6, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40069-016-0175-2.
Xie, Q., Xiao, J., Gardoni, P. and Hu, K. (2019). "Probabilistic analysis of building fire severity based on fire load density models", Fire Technology, 55(4), 1349-1375.
Yii, H.W. (2000). "Effect of surface area and thickness on fire loads", M.E. Dissertation, School of Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Zalok, E. and Eduful, J. (2013). "Assessment of fuel load survey methodologies and its impact on fire load data", Fire Safety Journal, 62(1 November), 299-310, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2013.08.011.
Zhai, Y. (2013). "Survey and statistical parameters of office building fire load", Build Science, 29(07), 122-123, https://doi.org/10.13614/j.cnki.11-1962/tu.2013.07.027.
Civil Engineering Infrastructures Journal
Volume 56, Issue 1
June 2023
Pages 193-204

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 05 April 2022
  • Revise Date: 12 July 2022
  • Accept Date: 13 August 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics