Building Code Requirements, Required information for Performance Based Designs, and Fire Modeling of Composite Materials

摘要

Although the nature of the building codes in the United States is primarily prescriptive, building owners, developers, designers and manufacturers (fabricators) should be cognizant of options that can alleviate the prescriptive restrictions on building materials. For example, the codes prescribe strict requirements for concrete floors, steel beams, fiberglass insulation and textile wall coverings. Similarly, composite materials must meet prescribed testing criteria before they can be used in a building environment. Often, composites may not meet the prescriptive fire-testing criteria, even though the material, as proposed, may not be any more hazardous than a permitted material. This restricts composites use in large, commercial structures normally required to be of non-combustible construction. A seldom used clause in the codes permits deviations from the code prescribed materials as long as the deviation does not result in an otherwise less safe design. Such deviations can sometimes be justified with the application of a performance-based design process to show that an alternate material is safe. This paper discusses the impact of prescriptive code requirements on the choice of building materials, how the codes restrict the use of composite materials, and how composite materials could be introduced into a building design through a performance based design methodology. An economical fire testing program is recommended in order to facilitate a performance-based design process.