ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a survey of available numerical methods used in the thermal and structural analysis of buildings in fire. The problem of structural response of buildings to fire is normally broken down into two distinct parts. The number of existing software capable of analyzing the thermal response of materials under transient heating conditions is quite large since heat flow analysis is used in many engineering disciplines such as aeronautics, mechanics, electronics, electrical, etc. The thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and density of the material are allowed to vary with temperature. The surface and gas properties are kept constant during the thermal analysis. Temperature Analysis of Structures Exposed to Fire is capable of describing the thermal response of two dimensional continua consisting of different materials exposed to fire. The structural section may include internal voids where the heat transfer by convection and radiation are taken into account.
