Fire resistance research needs for high performing materials

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of highperforming materials (HPM), such as high strength concrete (HSC) and fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP), in civil engineering applications. HPM areoften used as structural members in buildings, without fully addressing the fire related issues. At present, there is very little information available on the performance of HPM under fire conditions. Many of the HPM have special characteristics and hence, traditional fire protection measures, as well as conventional fire resistance assessment methods (prescribed in standards), may not be applied to enhance or evaluate their fire resistance. There is an urgent need for the development of fire resistance design guidelines, for the wider application of HPM in buildings and other infrastructure projects where fire resistance requirements are to be satisfied. The research needed for the development of such guidelinesinclude: improved methods for fire resistance assessment; data on material properties (thermal, mechanical, deformation) as a function of temperature; fire resistance experiments on large/full scale structural systems; validated numerical models and parametric studies. The output from this research will be simplified design guidelines that can be incorporated into codes and standards to facilitate integration of fire resistance design with structural design. Undertaking of this research, followed by technology transfer, should lead to wider use of HPM, and result in cost-effective and fire resistant structural systems.En g\ue9nie civil, il y a depuis quelques ann\ue9es un int\ue9r\ueat croissant pour les mat\ue9riaux \ue0 hautes performances (MHP), comme le b\ue9ton \ue0 haute r\ue9sistance (BHR) et les polym\ue8res renforc\ue9s de fibre (PRF). Les MHP sont souvent utilis\ue9s comme \ue9l\ue9ments structuraux dans les immeubles, sans une r\ue9elle pr\ue9occupation de leur r\ue9sistance au feu. Ainsi, on dispose actuellement de peu d'informations sur la performance au feu des MPH. Comme plusieurs de ces mat\ue9riaux ont des caract\ue9ristiques sp\ue9cifiques, il est probable que les mesures de s\ue9curit\ue9-incendie traditionnelles, tout comme les m\ue9thodes d'\ue9valuation de la r\ue9sistance au feu (prescrites comme normes), ne puissent ni servir \ue0 am\ue9liorer leur r\ue9sistance au feu ni \ue0 l'\ue9valuer. Il est donc imp\ue9rieux d'\ue9laborer des lignes directrices en la mati\ue8re pour couvrir l'ensemble des applications des MPH dans la construction d'immeubles et autres infrastructures, et s'assurer qu'ils se conforment aux normes \ue9tablies. La recherche de ces lignes directrices doit inclure de meilleures m\ue9thodes d'\ue9valuation de la r\ue9sistance au feu, des donn\ue9es sur les propri\ue9t\ue9s des mat\ue9riaux (thermiques, m\ue9caniques, d\ue9formation) comme fonction de temp\ue9rature, des essais de r\ue9sistance au feu \ue0 grandeur r\ue9elle, des mod\ue8les num\ue9riques et des \ue9tudes param\ue9triques valid\ue9s. Les donn\ue9es de sortie de cette recherche seront des lignes directrices de conception simples que l'on pourra incorporer aux codes et aux normes afin de faciliter l'int\ue9gration de la conception de la r\ue9sistance au feu \ue0 la conception de la structure. La recherche et le transfert de technologie qui en d\ue9coulera devraient conduire \ue0 une utilisation plus r\ue9pandue des MPH et, partant, \ue0 des syst\ue8mes plus rentables, parce que plus r\ue9sistants au feu.Peer reviewed: NoNRC publication: Ye