Fire Resistance of Light Gauge Steel Frame Wall Systems Lined With Gypsum Plasterboards

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FIRE RESISTANCE OF LIGHT GAUGE STEEL FRAME WALL SYSTEMS LINED

WITH GYPSUM PLASTERBOARDS

Anthony D. Ariyanayagam and Mahen Mahendran*


School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment,
Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Brisbane, Qld 4000, Australia. *Email: m.mahendran@qut.edu.au

ABSTRACT

Light gauge steel frame (LSF) wall systems are increasingly used in residential and commercial buildings as
load bearing and non-load bearing elements. Conventionally, the Fire Resistance Levels (FRL) of such building
elements are determined using approximate prescriptive methods based on limited standard fire tests. However,
recent studies have shown that in some instances real building fire time-temperature curves could be more
severe than the standard fire curve, in terms of maximum temperature and rate of temperature rise. This has
caused problems for safe evacuation and rescue activities, and in some instances has also lead to the collapse of
buildings earlier than the prescribed fire resistance. Therefore a detailed research study into the performance of
LSF wall systems under both standard fire and realistic fire conditions was undertaken using full scale fire tests
to understand the fire performance of different LSF wall configurations. Both load bearing and non-load bearing
full scale fire tests were performed on LSF walls configurations with varying number of plasterboard linings,
and stud section sizes. The non-load bearing fire test results were utilized to understand the factors affecting the
fire resistance of LSF walls, while load bearing fire test results were used to understand the effects exposure to
realistic design fire time-temperature curves. This paper presents the results of full scale experimental study on
different wall configurations, highlights the effects of realistic design fire time-temperature curves on wall
panels and the factors affecting the fire resistance of LSF walls.

KEYWORDS

Light gauge steel frame walls, standard fire curve, realistic design fire time-temperature curve, fire resistance
level (FRL), load bearing walls, non-load bearing walls, gypsum plasterboards and studs.

INTRODUCTION

Light gauge steel frame (LSF) wall systems are widely used in residential and commercial buildings as both
load bearing and non-load bearing elements. They are made of cold-formed steel sections and lined with
gypsum plasterboard with and without insulations (Figure 1). Cold-formed steel sections include stud and track
sections, where studs carry the vertical load and tracks connect the studs to make the frame. These wall systems
when used in buildings should satisfy the building safety requirements specified in the standard codes of
practice. One such stringent requirement in building regulation is fire safety, and it is specified in terms of Fire
Resistance Level (FRL). FRL is the length of time a member can withstand fire exposure in a standard fire
resistance test without losing its stability, integrity and insulation failures. FRL of building elements should
provide adequate protection time in a fire event, for safe evacuation, fire service intervention and for rescue
activities.

Cold-formed steel stud sections are usually thinner than hot-rolled steel sections and have different buckling
modes of failure and deformation, which are not commonly encountered in normal structural steel design. Also
under fire conditions, these thin cold-formed steel sections heat up quickly resulting in fast reduction in its
strength and stiffness. Hence, plasterboards are used as lining material to protect the steel sections from heating
up rapidly together with insulation material. Gypsum plasterboard linings are commonly used as lining material
in framed construction. Gypsum plasterboard has fire resistance properties better than most of the other similar
materials. Pure gypsum consists of calcium sulphate with free water and chemically combined water. When
exposed to fire, gypsum crystals will absorb the heat and will undergo dehydration and decomposition process,
thus it delays the temperature rise of LSF wall assemblies. Other materials in gypsum plasterboard such as glass
fibre, vermiculite and perlite additives will also improve the durability and the performance when exposed to

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