By: Parina Patel, Associate

The DFC team has recently returned from our annual CPD event at the University of Edinburgh. Run in conjunction with the University’s Fire Research Centre, this, our fifth event, was the sunniest one yet!

The topic for this year’s sessions was Structural Fire Engineering and focussed on the following learning objectives:

• Understand key loadbearing mechanisms for structures and how these change under fire conditions.
• Explain the fire resistance test and its meaning in relation to statutory guidance.
• Understand how to protect structures and mechanisms by which protection is achieved.
• Knowledge of what engineering tools are available and ability to articulate key aspects of the background of these.

The team travelled up to Edinburgh on Wednesday and gathered for some food and drinks on the sunny Royal Mile. It was an early start on Thursday for some who made the 5:45am trip up Arthur’s Seat to see the sunrise.

Thursday’s sessions started with Professor Luke Bisby, University of Edinburgh’s Chair of Fire and Structures and Director of Discipline, delivering the fundamentals of a structural engineering degree in 90 minutes. During this session, we examined different types of loads that buildings are exposed to and then delved into some structural mechanics.

Dr. Angus Law, University of Edinburgh’s Senior Lecturer in Fire Safety Engineering, then presented on the origins of the fire resistance test and the criteria used to define fire resistance and how these relate to the fire resistance periods contained within the guidance to the Building Regulations.

The afternoon sessions started with a visit to the fire laboratory where under the watchful eye of Dr. Rory Hadden, University of Edinburgh’s Reader in Fire Safety Engineering, we split into groups to measure the deflection experienced by loaded timber and aluminium members when exposed to elevated temperatures.

We then returned to the lecture theatre to discuss what happens to common building materials as they are heated, their utilisation and limiting temperatures and the origins of the Eurocodes.

The day’s sessions ended with a review of the effects of ventilation and compartment configurations on fire temperatures, time equivalence and travelling fires.

After a long day of learning and laboratory work, the team reconvened in the city centre at Howies restaurant for dinner and drinks. A couple of members of the team tried haggis for the first time and didn’t hate it!

Friday’s sessions started with a trip down memory lane to revisit and build upon our previous knowledge of heat transfer. Dr. Angus Law explained section factors and how the heat transfer equations we’ve grown to love are captured within the Eurocodes.

We then went back to the fire laboratory where we were met once again by Dr. Rory Hadden, who had assembled the fire protection materials we were asked to bring with us prior to the sessions. The team were creative in sourcing their fire protection materials which ranged from a fire blanket, the arm off a firefighting jacket, cavity barriers, intumescent foam, membranes and even a brick. Some of the more suitable items were placed in a small-scale compartment around various timber elements. A fuel source was ignited in the compartment and the fire steadily grew, forming a smoke layer. All materials were exposed to flashover and examined afterwards to see what level of protection they afforded the timber members.

We went back to the lecture theatre to consider the physics behind how common fire protection products work and the DFC team shared some examples of structural fire protection they’d experienced on projects and on site.

The event was a huge success! It was great to be able to take some time away from project work to explore the background to the guidance documents and gain a detailed understanding of the roles of other members of the design team and how they interact with our own.

A big thank you to the team at the University of Edinburgh’s Fire Research Centre and those at DFC who worked to make this happen. The DFC team are so grateful for the opportunity and very much looking forward to next year’s event.