Fire Protection of Structural Steel in High Rise Buildings

Course Summary:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) develops and promotes measurement, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve quality of life. In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, NIST has taken a key role in enhancing the nation’s homeland security.

This course provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in fire protection technologies for structural steel. An overview of the field of fire protection technologies, including a discussion of which technologies are commonly used today, how they work, their advantages and disadvantages, and some of their primary applications are presented.

Leading technologies are also discussed with regard to the newest technologies available on the market today, their use, limitations, and barriers to their increased implementation.

Learning Objective:

1. Scan for existing, new and potential materials, systems and technologies for fire protection of structural steel.
2. Define what performance is really needed from structural steel in high rise buildings; what protection systems for the steel will be required under multiple hazard scenarios, including fire; what performance requirements we must demand of those protection systems, particularly in defense against fire.
3. Define how testing is/should be structured (parameters for test samples, test beds and test protocols) in order to reliably predict the performance of materials, systems and technologies in full scale application, given these performance requirements.
4. Frame findings in the context of the marketplace and realistic price/demand considerations.

Review the quiz before studying the course.

Course Content

Course Author: NIST