Patent ID: 7596478
Filing Date: 2009-09-29
Classification: E04B,E04C

Abstract:
1. A method of designing a fire resistant structural beam including a plurality of apertures based on empirical temperature information obtained from conducting fire tests on a first fabricated beam and a second fabricated beam, the method carried out by a computer program and comprising: obtaining a plurality of values for a plurality of physical parameters of the fire resistant structural beam; selecting a fire resistance time for the fire resistant structural beam from a plurality of available fire resistance times; reading temperature information associated with the selected fire resistance time, the temperature information comprising, or derived from, a plurality of temperatures measured at a plurality of locations on a first fabricated beam that is similar to the fire resistant structural beam and wherein the plurality of temperatures were obtained from a fire test of the first fabricated beam and measured after a time equal to the fire resistance time had elapsed, reading modifying factor information associated with the selected fire resistance time, the modifying factor information comprising at least one modifying factor for each aperture, wherein the modifying factor is derived from empirically obtained temperatures measured adjacent an aperture of a second fabricated beam that has undergone a fire test, performing an analysis comprising: generating an output indicating whether the fire resistant structural beam is likely to fail in accordance with the analysis step.