Thermo mechanical analysis of walling systems using advanced finite element method

When a wall system is exposed to high temperatures, such as during a fire, the physical properties and resistance characteristics of its constituent materials deteriorate as the temperature rises. This study proposes a numerical simulation procedure based on a coupled thermo-mechanical approach. The numerical models developed to predict wall behaviour under fire conditions were calibrated and validated against existing full-scale fire test results [1,2]. The thermo-mechanical response of the wall systems was found to be significantly influenced by the physical and chemical changes occurring in all wall components during fire exposure. Wall systems proposed by Byrne Rapid Build Ltd (BRB) were analysed for their fire performance using the thermo-mechanical analysis capabilities of Abaqus, an advanced finite element (FE) software platform. This case study presents a three-dimensional FE analysis of both external and internal wall systems to evaluate their performance under ISO 834 standard fire exposure conditions, in line with the stated research objectives.