Advancing Structural Fire Engineering Through Global Insights & Collaboration

This spring, our Structural Fire Engineering (SFE) team contributed to the global fire safety community by sharing cutting-edge research and practical applications at three major international conferences. Through presentations on timber structures, holistic fire engineering and academic-industry collaboration, the team highlighted innovative approaches that are helping shape the future of structural fire safety. 

Rethinking Timber Structures in Realistic Fire Conditions 

At the SFPE Fire Safety Conference on Performance-Based Design in Singapore, Mikko Salminen, SFE Lead for our Europe region, presented groundbreaking analysis of timber structures exposed to realistic fire conditions rather than the standard fire curve. This work addresses a critical gap in current practice. 

Historically, timber fire resistance has been assessed through testing or calculations based on charring rates and effective reduced cross-sections, methods that typically consider only the heating phase of a standard fire. However, recent studies reveal a concerning limitation: these simplified methodologies may significantly underestimate risks, particularly during the cooling phase of a fire. Our research, including fire testing of cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs under natural fire curves, has demonstrated that structures can continue deflecting and potentially fail hours after the peak fire temperatures have passed. 

This finding has profound implications for the design of modern mass timber buildings, which are increasingly popular due to their sustainability benefits. By conducting thermal and structural analysis that includes the full fire duration, heating, peak temperatures and cooling, we can identify where additional protection or structural capacity is truly needed, rather than applying blanket prescriptive requirements. 

Holistic Structural Fire Engineering for Innovative Design 

At the International Conference & Technical Industry Expo at Atlantic Technological University in Letterkenny, Ireland, Mikko delivered an invited presentation on holistic structural fire engineering for innovative design solutions. The central message challenged the industry's reliance on century-old methodologies. 

Modern construction demands better. Today's complex buildings – with their innovative structural systems, mixed materials, large open spaces and architectural ambitions – deserve analysis methods that reflect their actual performance. Holistic SFE considers: 

• Realistic fire scenarios based on actual fuel loads, compartment characteristics and ventilation conditions
• Structural system behavior rather than isolated element performance
• Material-specific responses that account for how steel, concrete and timber each behave differently under fire exposure
• Risk-informed approaches that consider sprinkler reliability, occupancy characteristics and consequence of failure 

The key insight from Mikko's presentation: holistic SFE can add tremendous value to projects without sacrificing safety, and often enhancing it. However, this requires early engagement. Bringing structural fire engineers into projects during the conceptual or early design phase enables identification of optimization opportunities and facilitates coordination with authorities and stakeholders before design decisions become locked in. 

Advancing Knowledge Through Academic-Industry Collaboration 

The 14th International Conference on Structures in Fire in Kingston, Canada, provided our team with opportunities to engage with world-class experts and learn about cutting-edge research from around the globe. This biennial conference represents the premier forum for structural fire safety research and practice. 

Tuomas Hakamäki presented findings from his master's thesis, which investigated CLT slab behavior under natural fire conditions including the cooling phase. The research, conducted through fire testing at Tampere University in Finland, exemplifies the power of collaboration between consulting practitioners and academic researchers. 

The study revealed critical insights about timber behavior that simplified calculation methods missed entirely. In the fire tests, CLT slabs continued deflecting for nearly four hours after the cooling phase began, eventually failing despite decreasing temperatures. This phenomenon, where structural capacity continues degrading even as the fire subsides, cannot be predicted by traditional charring rate calculations that ignore the cooling phase. 

The thermal analysis showed that while the charring had stopped, the strength of the timber behind the charred portion decreased to concerning levels during extended fire exposure. Only through comprehensive thermal and structural modeling that accounts for temperature-dependent material properties throughout the entire fire duration could the actual structural performance be understood. 

This work fills a crucial gap in current knowledge and provides practitioners with validated methods for assessing timber structures more accurately. The fire test data enables calibration of analytical models, giving engineers confidence in their predictions for real projects. 

The Critical Role of Academic-Industry Partnership 

A recurring theme across all three conferences was the essential nature of collaboration between universities and practitioners. Academic researchers bring rigor, controlled experimentation and theoretical advancement. Practitioners bring real-world constraints, project experience and understanding of what solutions the market actually needs. 

This symbiotic relationship ensures that: 

• Relevant issues are studied: Practitioners identify knowledge gaps encountered in actual projects, guiding academic research toward practical problems
• Novel information reaches practice: Academic findings are translated into methods that consultants can apply to real buildings
• Methods are validated: Theoretical approaches are tested against real project constraints and regulatory requirements
• Standards evolve: Both groups contribute to code development, ensuring regulations reflect current knowledge 

The partnership requires constant dialogue and mutual understanding of current challenges and hot topics. Universities need feedback on which research directions would provide the most value. Practitioners need access to the latest findings before they appear in codes and standards. Together, they advance the state of the art more rapidly than either could alone. 

At the forefront of structural fire engineering practice and research  

This spring's conference participation reinforced Jensen Hughes' position at the forefront of structural fire engineering practice and research. By presenting our work, learning from other global experts and strengthening academic partnerships, we're helping advance the entire field toward more rational, performance-based approaches to structural fire safety. 

For project teams considering performance-based structural fire design, the key is early engagement. By involving structural fire engineering expertise during conceptual design, you can identify opportunities for optimization, coordinate with authorities effectively and ensure that your building achieves its full potential for safety and economy. 

Hear more from Mikko and Tuomas in our latest on demand webinar.