B's Flashcards 1-500
The most significant characteristic of a building is not its architectural style but how it ___
Behaves under fire conditions
In the field of fire protection, how are buildings classified?
According to the manner in which they behave under fire conditions
All building codes classify buildings by ___
Construction type
What are the two attributes that building classifications are based on?
materials used in construction and the fire resistance ratings required for the structural components
In addition to classifying building by construction type, building codes classify buildings by their ___
Occupancy
What is fire resistance a function of? What are material properties related to fire resistance? (5 properties)
The properties of all materials used, including combustibility, thermal conductivity, chemical composition, density, and dimensions.
Fire resistance is __
The ability of a structural assembly to maintain its load bearing capacity and structural integrity under fire conditions
In the case of walls, partitions, and ceilings fire resistivity also means ___
The ability to act as a barrier to fire
How are fire resistance ratings expressed?
In hours and fractions of hours
A building code will typically require that columns supporting the floors in a fire-resistive building have a fire resistance rating of ___
3 hours
The walls enclosing an exit stairwell, which may or may not be load bearing, typically must have a fire resistive rating of ___ to protect the stairwell
1-2 hours
What are the three methods to determine fire resistance?
- Laboratory testing
- the development of mathematical models based on data collected during nonstandard testing 3. the use of statistical data to determine probability of fire resistance based on standard test results.
What is the most commonly used method of determining fire resistance?
Laboratory testing
When and where were the earliest known building material tests conducted?
1884-86 in Germany
When and where were the earliest fire tests in the US conducted?
Denver 1890 and New York 1896
NFPA 251
Standard Method of tests of fire endurance of building construction materials. Also designated as ASTM E-119
In the standard fire test, the furnace temperature is regulated to conform to a ___
uniform time-temperature curve
For the standard time-temperature curve, a temperature of ___ is reached in 5 minutes and ___ at 30 minutes. At one hour the temperature is ___.
1000; 1550; 1700 all in degree F; 1850 at 2 hours, 2000 at 4 hours, 2300 at 8 hours
Fire resistance tests are classified as either ___ or ___.
Load bearing or non-load bearing
Fire resistance ratings for floor and ceiling assemblies are developed for both __ and __ assemblies.
Restrained and unrestrained because the end restraints affect the extent to which an assembly may expand or rotate
When a structural specimen is tested, the test is continued until ___ or ___
The specimen fails or the specified fire endurance for which the specimen being tested is reached
Normally, assemblies are not tested beyond ___ because this is the maximum time required by the building codes.
Four hours
What are the primary points of failure for fire resistance testing? (4 things)
- Failure to support an applied load
- Temperature increase on the unexposed side of wall, floor, and roof assemblies of 250 degree F above the ambient temperature
- Passage of heat of flame through the assembly sufficient to ignite cotton waste
- Excess temperature on steel members
The failure point temperature of steel will depend on __
the application of the component