Investigating the fire performance of LSF wall systems using finite element analyses

This research was focused on investigating the fire performance of LSF wall systems by using 3-D heat transfer finite element models of existing LSF wall system configurations. The analysis results were validated by using the available fire test results of five different LSF wall configurations. The validated finite element models were then used to conduct a parametric study on a range of non-load bearing and load bearing LSF wall configurations to predict their fire resistance levels (FRLs) for varying load ratios. The fundamental understanding of the fire performance of LSF wall systems was improved by using the validated 3-D finite element models and the parametric study predictions. Using the 3-D finite element models developed in this research, a fully-coupled finite element modelling approach can be developed to investigate the thermal-mechanical behaviour of LSF wall systems simultaneously. This paper presents the details of this research and the results.

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