'Test bed' environment process for assessing the appropriateness of engineering tools to be used in performance-based design applications

摘要

There is a need for guidelines to aid the selection of appropriate fire consequence analysis tools for specific types of fire protection engineering applications. This is not to be confused with the recent SFPE Guide, which aims to help engineers justify (substantiate) why they selected a particular tool, but rather, to help engineers choose wisely before analysis begins. Within the fire community, the primary beneficiary of such guidelines is the fire protection engineer who applies the tools (dedicated to assess fire effects, evacuation processes and response of structures) and analyses the results in terms of safety objectives. However, other stakeholders involved in evaluating and accepting the performance of a building or structure to withstand the fire risk, such as building owners or managers, other members of the design team, insurers and authorities having jurisdiction would also benefit, since part of the evaluation/acceptance process is based on the analyses performed using the aforementioned tools. Researchers from academia, the government or the private sector who are involved in developing such tools would also benefit from the guidelines as they would re-enforce the link between the scientific research domain and the engineering application field. The need for such guidelines, and a structure for a 'test bed' environment for assessing the appropriateness of tools for different engineering applications, is discussed.