Re:Cross-Laminated Timber
by bob1029 on Monday October 07, 2019 @03:01PM
(#21184663)
I actually wonder if CLT/wood would perform better than steel during an all-out fire in terms of the structural integrity, at least for an initial period of time.
The steel structure would more likely survive in-tact, but the wood structure could guarantee a certain minimum bound in terms of evacuation time available to occupants (which might be superior to steel).
From my very novice perspective, I feel like wood does not attenuate in structural integrity as its temperature rises (at least not in the same way as steel), and it seems it would also absorb and conduct heat much more slowly than steel.
On the other hand, I feel that once a wood-based structure gets hit with a big enough fire, the entire building is guaranteed to be lost due to how hard it could be to fully extinguish the fire (e.g. if the steel in a skyscraper could burn openly, what would that be like?).
The steel structure would more likely survive in-tact, but the wood structure could guarantee a certain minimum bound in terms of evacuation time available to occupants (which might be superior to steel).
From my very novice perspective, I feel like wood does not attenuate in structural integrity as its temperature rises (at least not in the same way as steel), and it seems it would also absorb and conduct heat much more slowly than steel.
On the other hand, I feel that once a wood-based structure gets hit with a big enough fire, the entire building is guaranteed to be lost due to how hard it could be to fully extinguish the fire (e.g. if the steel in a skyscraper could burn openly, what would that be like?).
I did find this related paper which may be of interest to HN: https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf2012/fpl_2012_kukay001...