Performance-based fire engineering, modelling, and advanced analysis — Ch. 37 orientation.

Scope

CivilTech notes on structural fire behaviour and design. Not a substitute for project codes, approvals, or peer review.

Regulatory context. South African projects follow National Building Regulations, SANS 10400, and cited material standards; use this material as orientation only.

Using this page

  1. Context — Cross-check these notes with your project fire strategy and the code edition on the job.
  2. Tools — The Fire Engineering page has ISO 834 and steel-retention calculators for quick checks.
  3. Approval — Fire resistance and structural fire design remain subject to the local authority and appointed engineers.

Fire engineering — Advanced topics

Section 11 — Performance-based fire engineering, fire modelling, and coupled thermal–structural computation.

Performance-based design

Scenarios, tenability, and structural criteria are set explicitly; solutions are demonstrated with analysis and often peer review.

Fire modelling

Zone models and CFD simulate temperatures and heat fluxes for complex geometries and ventilation—inputs to thermal analysis of structure.

Computational analysis

Nonlinear thermal–structural software links gas or solid-shell thermal results to structural models; verification and validation are essential.

Diagram sources

This page has no diagram assets. Text is CivilTech orientation on advanced methods—peer review and software validation follow project and regulatory practice.