Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Benson Steel is a Canadian leader that specializes in the creation and development of steel beam to columnx000D
connections in support of practitioners in structural engineering. However it has recently emerged, that with ax000D
desire to design steel buildings to ensure fire resilient design that not enough is understood about steelx000D
connections underlying behaviour in real fires to permit these innovative designs. A robust modelling andx000D
experimental technique, called hybrid testing, will consider how various connections perform underx000D
complicated thermal loading that can be observed in real fires. This research aims to understand the underlyingx000D
mechanisms (fire dynamics, heat transfer, connection fixity) that contribute to the real behaviour of steelx000D
connections in real fires. A computational tool-kit will be produced for use in design and an optimumx000D
connection type will be proposed that is resilient to complicated thermal loading configurations as seen in realx000D
fires. Concurrent with the full project, all research team members will contribute to building design examplesx000D
using the computational tool kit. This, in turn, will help to develop Benson Steel and their ability to deliverx000D
alternative material solutions and resilient technologies.