Experimental validation of a hybrid fire testing framework based on dynamic relaxation

Abstract

Fire testing of large-scale structural prototypes is costly and requires highly specialized facilities. For this reason, most of the research on the structural response to fire loading relies on cheaper single-component experiments. However, such experiments do not reproduce the internal force redistribution in a realistic assembly, which plays a pivotal role in determining the failure mode of every component. Hybrid fire testing overcomes this limitation by harnessing fire experiments and numerical simulations in a closed feedback loop. Specifically, the boundary conditions of the tested specimen are updated on-the-fly to match those of a numerically simulated subassembly. In order to test gypsum-plasterboard-based wall assemblies under realistic loading scenarios, the Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology has recently implemented hybrid fire testing. This paper describes the developed hybrid testing setup and the results of a demonstrative experimental campaign.