Fire and the structure

This article includes extracts from the original paper by M. G. Lay. Detailed readers are referred to the full paper and the references included below. Mr. Lay's summary demonstrates the importance of a logical overall approach to the subject. This paper summarises BHP Melbourne Research Laboratories work in the field of fire resistance. It begins with a survey of the areas which need research and then discusses why MRL decided to concentrate on basic steel response. The steel properties work of Skinner(1) and the member response work of Knight(2) are summarised. An example is given to illustrate the application of their work to the prediction of the behaviour of a warehouse structure in a fire. It is pointed out that steel performance has little to do with human safety in a fire and this leads on to an attempt to put fire ratings in their true perspective.