Energy-based time equivalent approach for evaluating the fire resistance of timber components exposed to realistic design fire curves

According to the concept of performance-based design, the fire safety design of the timber structures should be focused on the actual design fire, which represents the realistic fire situation in a given building. However, the current prescriptive only provides a method for evaluating the fire resistance of timber components under standard fire. This paper proposed an energy-based time equivalent approach (EBTEA) for evaluating the fire resistance of the timber components in realistic design fire scenarios. As an alternative, this method was based on the principle of energy equivalence so that the fire resistance design of timber components exposed to realistic fires was standardized, which can make fire resistance rating database available under standard fire exposure and promote performance-based design. The validity of the method was verified by comparing the predicted values of EBTEA with the existing values obtained from the nonlinear finite element analysis. The proposed method was further simplified by analyzing the key factors of energy equivalence and using nonlinear fitting methods to facilitate the use of designers. The simplified EBTEA can predict equivalent fire resistance of timber components under realistic design fire scenarios.