Load Bearing Capacity of Fire Rated Light Timber Frame Walls
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abstract
Light timer frame (LTF) walls are made of solid timber elements (studs and tracks) and are usually protected by fire insulation materials (gypsum). This investigation finds the residual load bearing capacity of LTF walls after certain fire rating periods (30, 60, 90 and 120). One LTF structure with 3 studs will be analysed with two different protection levels (one and two gypsum layers). The computational model includes the thermal analysis under standard fire and a sequential mechanical analysis with incremental load applied for each fire rated periods. The orthotropic material behaviour is considered temperature dependent, the mechanical
analysis considers large displacement behaviour and the charring effect of wood. The results show that the load bearing capacity decreases with the fire exposure time. A new proposal is presented between the load bearing capacity and the fire rating.
