Thermal analysis of fire effects on fire doors using the finite element method

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to use the finite element method and computer simulation to prove the effectiveness in assessing the fire resistance of building construction elements, specifically on the example of the fire resistance of fire doors. For that purpose, data from the building where fire doors with defined characteristics were installed were used. For simulation purposes, numerical modelling with thermal and structural analysis will be used. In this way, the parameters of the temperature distribution on the fire door and the contact material due to fire will be obtained, as well as the distribution of strain and stresses, which will indicate the fire resistance of the used structure. Computer simulation with numerical modelling offers a number of advantages both in the speed of providing results of a larger number of variants of the simulation model and in the accuracy of the results obtained once the model is calibrated. Also, the mentioned type of predicting the effect of fire can be applied to other elements of the structure of the construction object, which can significantly influence the decision-making that will prevent the negative consequences of the occurrence of a possible fire.