This article provides an update on the progress and focus of the American Society of Civil Engineers/Structural Engineering Institute’s (ASCE/SEI) Fire Protection Committee for the next two years. The aim is to support the field of structural fire engineering through collaboration and sharing of knowledge across industry and academia.
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Author Archives : Erica C. Fischer, P.E.
Erica Fischer is an Assistant Professor at the Oregon State University in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering. Dr. Fischer’s research interests revolve around the resilience and robustness of structural systems affected by natural and man-made hazards such as building fire, wildfires, and earthquakes. (erica.fischer@oregonstate.edu)
What is the Role of the Structural Engineer?
Disasters are occurring with increasing severity and frequency [NOAA 2018]. Communities are also shifting design objectives to consider building functionality. As the severity increases and the design objective shifts, design standards generally rise with higher strength levels and stricter detailing requirements. …
In 2016, many organizations launched resiliency initiatives making “resilience” the new buzzword. In the building and infrastructure industry, resilience is defined in many ways. In 2014, the ASCE/SEI Sustainability Committee defined resilience as the ability to suffer less damage and recover more quickly from adverse events. These adverse events are not only external shocks in the form of natural or man-made disasters (hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, etc.), but also economic, social, political, and cultural adverse events that could damage the framework of a community. Today, this also includes the effects of climate change and the resulting rapid increase in the frequency of external shocks. …
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Fire is an extreme loading condition that must be considered in the design of buildings. Upon initial ignition, building fires are typically small, localized and dealt with efficiently by active protection systems, such as sprinklers. In certain situations, where there is adequate fuel, ventilation, and lack (or failure) of active protection systems, the compartment fire may flashover and develop into an extreme fire loading scenario. During such design fire scenarios, the gravity loading on the structure does not change significantly, but the structural properties (elastic modulus, yield strength, and failure strength) of the steel and concrete materials decrease dramatically. …
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On August 24, 2014, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred northwest of American Canyon, California. The earthquake was located between two faults: the West Napa Fault and the Carneros-Franklin Fault near the north shore of the San Pablo Bay. Structural damage was most severe in the downtown Napa region, where a number of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings were located. Damage to residential building construction was also observed surrounding the downtown region, and became less severe farther away from town. …
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Mar, 2015
Erica C. Fischer, P.E., Judy Liu, Ph.D. and Amit H. Varma, Ph.D.
Articles, Lessons Learned