A Study into the Behavior of Reinforced-Concrete Columns under Fire Exposures using a Spreadsheet-Based Numerical Model

Fire is a significant threat to the structural integrity of buildings. Depending on the architecture of the structure and the intensity and duration of the fire event, structural members may lose strength and stiffness eventually leading to collapse whether by flexural buckling or crushing. The focus of this research is on the behavior and fire performance of reinforced-concrete columns under fire conditions. In order to effectively study column performance with differing loading, aggregate and dimensional characteristics under varying time-temperature curves and fire exposures, a numerical model was constructed in Microsoft Excel. The spreadsheet model allowed for complete transparency of the calculations and provided a means to visualize the data in flexible ways. ANSYS and several published column furnace tests were used to benchmark the heat transfer and structural analysis portions of the model. One, three and four-sided fire exposures along with the ASTM E119 fire curve and a natural fire curve were used to study latent heating effects, increasing and decreasing eccentricities, moment magnification, and failure modes. Assessments of column structural capacity were performed in accordance with the provisions of ACI 318. The completed model served as an effective tool for the thesis and is available to help aid students and engineers investigate the design of reinforced concrete columns under fire conditions through integration the heat transfer analyses and the structural evaluations

Mt. Washington Summit Facility Design and Wastewater Plant Analysis

The goal of this project was to design an environmental research facility with an adequate fire protection system and to improve the wastewater treatment on the summit. This project assessed building and wastewater treatment needs for the extreme weather conditions on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Two separate structural frames using structural steel and concrete were designed, and the structural steel frame was recommended as the best option. An INERGEN fire protection system was selected for the proposed research facility. The current package wastewater treatment plant\u27s influent and effluent characteristics were analyzed. Recommendations were made to modify the processes of the current wastewater treatment plant and to improve influent characteristics

Mt. Washington Summit Facility Design and Wastewater Plant Analysis

The goal of this project was to design an environmental research facility with an adequate fire protection system and to improve the wastewater treatment on the summit. This project assessed building and wastewater treatment needs for the extreme weather conditions on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Two separate structural frames using structural steel and concrete were designed, and the structural steel frame was recommended as the best option. An INERGEN fire protection system was selected for the proposed research facility. The current package wastewater treatment plant\u27s influent and effluent characteristics were analyzed. Recommendations were made to modify the processes of the current wastewater treatment plant and to improve influent characteristics

The bond behaviour of CFRP-to-steel bonded joints with varying bond properties at elevated temperatures

The mechanical properties of different adhesives at elevated temperatures can change differently due to the differences in adhesive molecular chain structure. Therefore, a profound understanding of the effect of these property changes on the bond behaviour of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP)-to-steel bonded joints is of great importance when designing bonded CFRP strengthening systems for steel structures. Existing studies on CFRP-to-steel bonded joints under monotonic loading have clearly shown that both adhesive mechanical properties and geometrical properties of the bonded joints (e.g. bond length) may significantly influence the bond strength. Existing studies on adhesive mechanical properties under elevated temperatures have shown that the variation of adhesive mechanical properties, especially fracture energy with temperature depends significantly on the adhesive type. No comprehensive study exists so far on understanding the effects of key mechanical and geometrical parameters of a CFRP-to-steel bonded joints at elevated temperatures on bond strength. This paper presents a study aimed at understanding the effects of different parameters such as temperature dependent mechanical properties of adhesive and bond length on the behaviour of CFRP-to-steel bonded joints at elevated temperatures. Results of this study showed that (1) load-displacement behaviour of the bonded joints is sensitive to temperature variations, (2) for bonded joints with sufficiently long bond length, the ultimate load depends only on the fracture energy of the final temperature, and (3) the maximum load of the bonded joints depends on the ratio between the loading and heating rates

Residential Electrical Fires: Effects of Increased Demand on Aging Electrical Distribution Systems in Victoria, Australia

This project supports the efforts of the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board in Melbourne, Victoria to investigate potential risk associated with placing high electrical demand on deteriorating residential wiring systems. Our project team analyzed electricity consumption and fire incident data, and conducted a survey and interviews which indicated the existence of an increase in electricity consumption per capita and related electrical fires from 1986 to 2009. We made recommendations to implement routine residential electrical inspections, address failing electrical distribution systems attributable to overloads and establish stronger consumer awareness of associated risk

Description of small and large-scale cross laminated timber fire tests

A large-scale fire test was conducted on a compartment constructed from cross laminated timber (CLT). The internal faces of the compartment were lined with non-combustible board, with the exception of one wall and the ceiling where the CLT was exposed directly to the fire inside the compartment. Extinction of the fire occurred without intervention. During the fire test, measurements were made of incident radiant heat flux, gas phase temperature, and in-depth temperature in the CLT. In addition, gas flow velocities and gas phase temperatures at the opening were measured, as well as incident heat fluxes at the facade due to flames and the plume leaving the opening. The fuel load was chosen to be sufficient to attain flashover, to achieve steady-state burning conditions of the exposed CLT, but to minimize the probability of uncertain behaviors induced by the specific characteristics of the CLT. Ventilation conditions were chosen to approximate maximum temperatures within a compartment. Wood cribs were used as fuel and, following decay of the cribs, self-extinction of the exposed CLT rapidly occurred. In parallel with the large-scale test, a small scale study focusing on CLT self-extinction was conducted. This study was used to establish: the range of incident heat fluxes for which self-extinction of the CLT can occur; the duration of exposure after which steady-state burning occurred; and the duration of exposure at which debonding of the CLT could occur. The large-scale test is described, and the results from both the small and large-scale tests are compared. It is found that self-extinction occurred in the large-scale compartment within the range of critical heat fluxes obtained from the small scale tests

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Heat transfer through mass timber connections

The advance in mass timber products has allowed buildings to be revolutionised. Medium rise buildings can utilise these panels as the main structural components achieving suitable strength and rigidity. Structural connections often pose the weakest element in timber construction and having an understanding of how they perform structurally in ambient as well as in fire conditions is important. This research paper presents an analysis of heat transfer through mass timber connections with boundary conditions defined appropriately for fire conditions. The model does not seek to replicate furnace conditions. A proper understanding of the boundary conditions and energy balance on the surface of the specimens is needed in order to correctly model timber connections in fire. The experiments in this research project use radiant panels to provide a consistent known heat flux to the samples. The experimental results were verified with two finite element models which proved similar