The phenomenon of creep of structural steel in fire engineering is gaining more and more interest. Due to shortcomings of the EC3 constitutive model and other approaches based on classical creep theory an alternative approach mainly based on the ideas of Krempl is proposed. Due to this so-called operator approach the material as well as the constitutive model is looked upon as an operator. The application of this view serves as a guide through the analysis of the relationship between experimental facts and constitutive theory especially in the context of transient creep.
First developments of a new test to evaluate the fire behavior of photovoltaic modules on roofs
(2015)
A new test for photovoltaic (PV) modules exposed to an external fire source on roofs is proposed, and first results are presented. This is a simplification of the standards commonly in use for testing PV modules as roofing parts, roofing components or building components. Most of the tests required different fire scenarios and the use of burning brands such as wood cribs. In our study we proposed replacing wooden burning brands with a propane burner, the output of which is close to the one that can be observed in the burning of wooden cribs 500 g and 2 kg in size. The fire behavior was assessed by measuring smoke evolution, burning drips, flaming debris, and the time to burn-through of monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous silicon panels. Two different configurations of the burner were tested, with the fire source on the top of the module or under the tilted module, respectively. The fire behavior of the modules was dependent on the burner output (16 to 46 kW), but also on the construction type of the panel (glass/glass or glass/plastic sheet) and on the position of the fire source (top or bottom). These preliminary tests for further development of the procedure yielded encouraging results for the evaluation of PV panels on roofs.