Assessment of Eurocode 5 for fire design of timber columns

Abstract

Structural fire design of timber structures can be performed using Eurocode 5 parts 1 and 2 that provides two types of design methodologies: simplified and advanced. As the base parameters for the methods are not the same it is important to assess their behaviour under different conditions. The aim of this paper is to compare the different design approaches and verify their coherence for the design of columns. Several parametric studies comparing the different design methods were performed. Factors such as timber class, member cross-section size or slenderness of column were investigated and a comparison of the simplified and advanced methods was carried out. Some inconsistencies were found between the simplified and the advanced calculation methods. Eurocode 5 design methods should be improved and become more coherent. A proposal for improved parameters is made in order to improve the coherence of the different design methods.