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J. Wolfsgruber, M. Rudy:
"Thermodynamic Analysis of the Fire Performance of Structural Wood-Metal Composites";
2006.

Recent developments in structural design and timber engineering favour the increased use of the renewable resource wood as an alternative, high-performance construction material to meet rising quality demands regarding functionality, longevity, and safety. The reported research results indicate a potentially fire-retarding thermodynamic effect in wood-metal composites, which is analyzed in detail based on empirical findings. Hereby, wood-metal composite configurations are investigated that not only maintain the conditions for the desired effect throughout the entire fire scenario, but are also structurally meaningful given general building performance criteria. A reliable theoretical model of the behaviour of applicable wood-metal configurations is described and the results of parameters studies by means of FEM simulation are discussed. Ultimately, the aim will be to exploit the benefits of combining wood with metal under the extreme conditions of a fire load, while optimising the structural efficiency of engineered building components.

wood-metal composites, structural components, thermodynamic analysis, FE modelling

http://www.iti.tuwien.ac.at/download/files/publika/JW-MR_draft_FP1.pdf